


Amidala's Star

by WildConcerto



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Ben Fucks Up, Cursed Kylo, F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fluff and Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reylo Fanfiction Anthology, Sea Witch!Snoke, The little mermaid - Freeform, background Hux/Phasma, because the author is evil, mermaid!rey, potc references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:17:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7965787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildConcerto/pseuds/WildConcerto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Is there anything I can do to win an immortal soul?“</p><p>"No,” said the old woman, “unless a woman were to love you so much that you were more to her than her father or mother; and if all her thoughts and all her love were fixed upon you, and she promised to be true to you here and hereafter, then her soul would glide into your body…"</p><p>A Reylo Little Mermaid AU for the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology project, Keeping the Stars Apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my humble offering for the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's fairytale project! As said in the summary, it is a Little Mermaid AU, in a mix of Hans Christian Andersen's tale and the Disney adaptation, thrown in a Pirates of the Carribbean universe. This will be updated on Wednesdays and Saturdays (weeell today is Tuesday but it doesn't matter). 
> 
> Shout-out thanks to the mods who edited this mess and all the people who encouraged me for this story - most especially goddamnrey and darthshizuka who did art for this - you're all absolutely amazing.

The wind on his face finally gave him a sense of freedom for a while.

He wished he could fly. He would much rather be an albatross, with its wide wings, gliding for what seemed like forever above the water. Flying looked so much more exciting than walking or swimming anyway.

He closed his eyes and emptied his mind. He was thankful that for once, he heard absolutely nothing. There was just the sound of the water splashing on the  _ Millennium Falcon _ ’s hull, but Ben was so used to it he didn’t even notice it anymore. If he focused, he could discern something humming deep beneath the waves.

He could hear it. So could his mother, his Uncle Luke, and so many other people before him. It was the song of the underwater folk, unpredictable, and dreaded because of it.

When he really listened to it, he found himself humming as well. At twelve years of age, his voice hadn’t broken yet, and his clear tone formed a quiet harmony with the Sea People, far away from him but so close at the same time. Sometimes, however, a voice, lovelier than all the others, outshone all the others despite its incredible softness. In those moments, he recalled those stories where sailors would throw themselves in the sea while trying to reach for the voices they heard in the fog, only to drown, or to be taken away by the Sirens, Calypso only knew where. In the goriest legends, they ate those poor unfortunate souls and turned their bones into the shells they wore as jewelry. When he heard what he had nicknamed “the Voice”, he finally understood what drove those sailors to desperation. 

Of course, he always gathered enough courage not to jump.

He didn’t even care about those legends anyway.

Poe had a fondness for Queen Amidala’s stories. Uncle Chewie was old enough to recall some of her exploits from the days of his youth. His memory was vivid, in spite of his advanced years, and he recalled the exact details he heard when he was a youngster eager to hear stories as well. But the person with most knowledge of Queen Amidala and her crew was Master Tano. After all, she was the pirate queen’s first mate along with Asajj Ventress.

Ben, however, was enticed by tales of the Jedi Order and the Sith pirates.

It was a never-ending story of sea battles, slaves imprisoned and freed, the Jedi and the Sith earning either fear or respect from the common folk living on land for their strange powers.

Ben was never interested in his family’s stories. He had heard them again and again: Luke Skywalker, a mere farm boy turned pirate, Leia Organa, princess of Alderaan Island, and Han Solo, captain of the  _ Millennium Falcon _ , fighting the great Sith Empire and driving it to its fall. And in the end, the princess married the pirate captain, like in every good tale, and they had many – well, one child. A boy, Ben. Darth Vader saw the error in his ways, killed the Sith Emperor, and died shortly after.

His parents and uncle being such an integral part of Ben’s life, it was hard for him to find their legends interesting; not to mention that the heroes of the story sounded vastly different from the people he knew.

His father had always been wary around him. Han was used to Luke and Leia’s “oddness”, as he would call it. They both inherited their father’s powers. Ben’s power however, was different, in a way. Much more potent, and much more unstable. Leia tried as much as she could to convince Han that Ben was young, and that he would eventually learn to control everything better. But Ben grew up. And things just became worse.

Leia had planned to send him to Luke to get proper training. After all, if Luke had managed to balance his powers and live a normal life – well, as normal as his life could be, as the founder of the New Jedi Order – so could Ben.

Ben liked his Uncle Luke. But he wasn’t too sure he wanted to leave his parents. He always felt as if he didn’t see them enough. Mama was always caught with business with the New Pirate Republic, and she had played a huge part in its emergence. Rumor had it that remnants of the old Sith Empire were trying to emerge again, and she was determined not to let that happen. She tried warning the New Pirate Republic to stay wary, in order to stop that menace as soon as it appeared, but despite being a hero known across the Galactic Sea, Leia Organa’s warnings were for the most part ignored.

Ben especially wished Papa would be more natural around him.

He sometimes thought he’d much rather be like Papa than Uncle Luke. Ben still remembered that time when enemy pirates had come across the  _ Millennium Falcon _ while he was on board. It was the kind of thing Han made Ben promise to never tell Mama, since he had made a deal with her that he’d never look for trouble while Ben was present. Anyway, despite the warning to stay hidden, Ben couldn’t help but always peek and see Papa talk his way out of trouble, while Uncle Chewie would shout comments in French, which the enemy crew couldn’t understand, which made the whole situation even more hilarious. Even Poe had trouble not to laugh out loud. Ben had to shush him constantly in order to get to keep on watching without being seen by anyone.

It was a preposterous to promise Leia to stay out of trouble while Ben was aboard the Millennium Falcon. That ship, its constant mishaps, and its captain, always meant trouble.

Young Ben Solo  _ loved  _ it.

And as much as he liked Uncle Luke, he was a bit too dull for him.

He hadn’t seen much of him, to be honest. Uncle Luke was very busy, just like Mama was. He was considered by many the last pirate of the Jedi Order, and everyone was depending on him to bring back the Jedi Order from its ashes.

And Ben was going to be his first apprentice.

“I’m sure you’ll like it there,” Mama had told him. “Uncle Luke is just like us.”

His time had finally come. He was to leave in two weeks for Lothal, where Luke had established the New Jedi Order.

Ben had hoped that his father would be less awkward than usual towards him, since he was leaving soon. But that wasn’t the case. Han Solo had never been adept at farewells.  Leia had said it was better to leave Ben under Luke’s sole responsibility and let him adapt himself. Ultimately, Han could only agree with Leia. She was  _ always _ right.

At least Uncle Chewie was there, picking up Ben as if he was still a baby, yelling: “Tu vas me manquer, vieux”. Ben wrapped his arms around Chewie’s neck tightly, and Chewbacca then wondered if it was a good idea to send the little rascal away.

He would miss Poe too. The cabin boy could be quite obnoxious at times – but so was he. And he was always up for stargazing.

Ben was the grandson of a star, after all. Amidala’s Star, which showed the north to sailors navigating the Galactic Sea, appeared the day Padmé Amidala had died after giving birth to her children. It was the star that guided Luke Skywalker to the Sith Emperor’s hiding place during a time when he was lost at sea and had lost hope of finding his way again.

“What are you going to do when I’m gone?” Ben asked Poe.

“I want to join your mom’s crew. I’m going to help the New Pirate Republic for real. Not just be an independent pirate. I want to be a hero for real, even if I can’t be a Jedi.”

Ben wrinkled his nose. “I wish you could come with me, though. Mama said I won’t be seeing all of you for a long time. Not until I’m all grown up.”

Poe shrugged. “I’ll come and visit you, buddy. I’ll get my own ship. And it’s going to be the biggest ship ever.”

“It won’t be really fast if it’s big.”

“Okay, big and fast. There’s going to be the Jedi Order, and you’ll be a hero, and I’ll be a hero too, and we’ll fight together. One day.”

Ben smiled fondly at Poe’s scene. “I’d like that.”

Later that night, however, he didn’t dream of a bright future with his family and Poe. Instead, he dreamed that he was drowning, all that while hearing the Voice. From where it came from, a hand suddenly reached towards him out of the darkness, seemingly his only hope.

He grabbed it without a thought.

He then woke up, unsure if that was a good decision or not.

* * *

“Beebee-Ate! Wait for me!”

The small clown fish turned around and stared at Rey, while she groaned and crossed her arms. That rascal was not able to utter a word, but there was no one cheekier than him in the entire Galactic Sea. He was, however, Rey’s sole companion and friend, and she had to admit she wouldn’t have left him for anything in the ocean.

Not that she was unhappy. She knew little mermaids like herself usually lived with their parents. She had no idea what happened to hers. She heard snippets of what other Sea People said about them, and from the little she heard, there were all rumors she wished to forget. They whispered about the Earthbound, dark magic, and dishonor.

Rey preferred living in her own little dream. She was only seven years old.

Whoever her parents were, they had chosen her home well. She lived in her own little paradise under the sea, and she barely had to fend for herself or search for food and amusement. It was also a rather friendly place, even though her fellow merpeople seemed to avoid her. All the other sea critters were her friends, and to Rey, they were better than any merfolk. The coral reef was a hidden treasure, located in a corner where very few Earthbound passed by in their many travels. There was, of course, the island of Lothal a small distance off. However, it was rare that an Earthbound going towards it came anywhere near her.

Rey had to admit she was a bit disappointed that they never did. She had heard many stories about the Earthbound and the Hutts, horror stories more often than not. But there were also the legends of the Jedi and the Sith, sparse yet so much more exciting than her dull everyday existence with Beebee-Ate.

She wished she knew more. She knew, despite her young age, it would only garner funny looks, and snide comments about how strange of a little mermaid she was and that it was all her parents’ fault.

Rey didn’t wish to hear it. She stayed confident that her loneliness was only temporary and that her parents would come back to her. One day. It was that sole memory of a soft voice whispering: “We’ll be back, sweetheart” that made her cling to such a belief. She liked the sound of that nickname. Sometimes, she said it out loud just to hear it.  _ Sweetheart. _ Beebee-Ate, in those moments, glared at her. “I’m not calling you a sweetheart, silly,” she would reply.

Despite this part of the Galactic Sea not being often visited by Earthbound, there was a shipwreck not too far from the coral reef where Rey lived. It was probably her favorite place. At first, she scavenged for weird Earthbound objects she brought back with her. But in the end, she found so many pretty things that bringing them all back was a bit difficult. The shipwreck became a shrine. No one dared to venture near it, except of course Rey and Beebee-Ate. Both of them were never bothered by anyone.

Rey often wondered how that ship ended up here. Perhaps some Sirens made it sink.

She had never met one. They were a rarity among the Sea People, and you never knew if you were one until your nineteenth birthday. It was impossible to predict as well: it wasn’t a matter of appearance, nor lineage. Whoever became a Siren, however, gained great respect from their fellow merpeople. As if your ego wasn’t heightened enough by the knowledge that you were the most fearsome creature of the Galactic Sea, according to the Earthbound.

At nineteen years old, there were many talents a mermaid or merman could potentially develop. Rey, however, dreamt of becoming a Siren. She wanted to see a storm start solely thanks to her voice. In the meantime, taking advantage of the fact that no one would scold her for it,-- except of course Beebee-Ate, a killjoy as always,-- she would go to the surface, and practice her singing.

For now though, it sounded akin to a sick seagull.

She would get better.

And her parents would probably even find her before that. It was something she was waiting for even more eagerly than her nineteenth birthday.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update. But from now on, it will always be on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Also, thank you for the response, I really appreciate every kudo, bookmark and comment ;)

_ Of course Papa can’t come. _

A wave of frustration came over Ben. He tried chasing it away as he repeated to himself to stay calm, but this time, he felt justified, and he just wanted to give in to that anger.

He had learned, two days before he was going to leave to join Uncle Luke, that Papa had managed to free himself enough to accompany him. Ben had been overjoyed. It would make up for the last few weeks where, despite being on the same ship, he had barely spoken to his father.

The last day, they had berthed in the Hosnian islands. They were to meet his mother there. The whole day had been like a dream. For the first time in ages, Ben really felt as if they were a family. And all of a sudden, the fact that he was going to leave very soon, for a very long time, was a distant memory.

He didn’t fall asleep immediately, later that night. However, he was good at feigning sleep and his parents never discovered his insomnia.

Unfortunately, it lead him to overhearing his parents’ argument.

He should have been accustomed to it over the years. He knew his parents loved each other more than anything. But often, when he listened to them arguing, he realized their disagreements would often revolve around him.

He had seen his mother crying, once, after an argument. It was something Ben never wanted to witness again.

The worst part about it was that it was his fault. He was the reason why his parents didn’t get along.

Perhaps it would be better if he left. If that could make his parents happier…

And now, today, his father had come to him, saying, while scratching the back of his head, visibly uncomfortable: “Sorry, kid. Can’t go on the trip with you.”

Ben didn’t even pay attention to what his father said afterwards. Perhaps he should have, then the pat on the back and the hug that came afterwards would have less felt like a stab in the back.

But right now, he simply didn’t care.

The cabin felt cramped, so Ben headed up to the deck in order to get some fresh air. He was quite happy to see there was, for once, no one in sight except for the cabin boy up on the mast at his usual post. Ben took a few deep breaths, letting the salty air fill his lungs. He usually loved it. It was only then that he truly felt that the sea was where he belonged,  like his parents, his uncle, and his grandparents before him.

However, his father’s words from the previous night still rang in his head.

_ There’s too much of his grandfather in him. _

Ben had heard the story of Anakin Skywalker, of course.

It started the day Qui-Gon Jinn and his first mate Obi-Wan Kenobi came across a ship owned by a certain Watto and, as they did with every ship affiliated with the Sith or, in Watto’s case, with some Hutt kingdom, they attacked it in order to free the slaves on board.

This time, there was only a boy, going by the name of Anakin Skywalker.

But he wasn’t just any boy.

From as long as he could remember, he had been a slave.  Of his family, he only remembered his mother. He had no father, or rather, none that he knew of. He had asked his mother once where his father was. She had quickly changed the subject, but Anakin had remembered his mother’s uneasiness.

He had been nine when his master decided he was valuable enough to be separated from his mother and sold. For the first time ever, after a life of submission, Anakin fought, spat, and resisted, only to end up chained in the hold of the ship.

That same night, a terrible storm came, and Watto and his crew thought it was going to be the end for them. However, they all came out safe and sound. The next day, when one of the men, still visibly shaken due to the hell they had faced the night before, came to give the boy his daily meal, he was certain he had seen Anakin smile in satisfaction when the ship unexpectedly cracked, making him jump.

The crew soon realized that storms happened whenever someone mistreated the boy. The worst storm came when some sailor made a disparaging comment on the boy’s mother. The superstitious nature of the crew only assisted in making them all convinced there was something  _ unnatural _ about the boy. Watto would only shrug and dismiss it. But he was starting to doubt as well.

For the rest of his life, Obi-Wan Kenobi would remember how he had barely gotten the boy out of his chains and he was running for his life, jumping into the water. It was fortunate Captain Jinn had the gift of telekinesis and managed get the boy out of the water and onto their ship.

It only took them a matter of seconds to see a merman’s tail on the boy’s body, which, within seconds, became legs again.

Anakin Skywalker was taken to the Jedi Council, at the Pirate Republic’s headquarters on Coruscant. They managed to deduce that the boy was a hybrid, a human with merfolk blood flowing in his veins. The fact that Anakin Skywalker didn’t know who his father was only confirmed the Council’s suspicions.

In spite of all this, he had tremendous power. He possessed the talents that the Sith were looking for in recruits as well as the strange powers that only Sea People yield. And for the Jedi Order, he was too big of an asset to ignore. Anakin Skywalker therefore became a Jedi Pirate.

He missed his mother, but his new life as a Jedi suited him. He had heard stories of their exploits, and knowing that he would one day be one of them helped him go forward.

But despite everything, the Jedi Council was afraid of Anakin and what he could become if he got out of control.

Qui-Gon died, killed by a Sith crew commanded by Darth Maul that they came across during their travels. Obi-Wan became captain and Anakin replaced him as first mate. 

Their life was however changed when their ship came across the  _ Naboo _ .

There was more to Anakin’s story, from then on intertwined with Queen Amidala’s. According to what Ben’s mother had told him, it ended quite symbolically the day the Old Pirate Republic fell, and the Empire rose, while the last Jedi dying of the great Order 66 purge.

The tales of Anakin’s exploits fascinated Ben. It was so easy for him to identify himself with his long dead grandfather, who was just like him, in so many aspects. He was a great Jedi. And this was what Ben aspired to become.

_ You might as well, little one. Your father doesn’t care about you, anyway. _

Ben jumped in fear and looked around to see that there was no one beside him. Strange. He was fairly certain he had heard someone and…

Especially since what that voice had said wasn’t necessarily pleasant, to say the least.

_ Your father doesn’t care about you. _

It was back. And this time, Ben was certain he hadn’t imagined it.

_ Go away _ , he whispered, at the back of his mind. He could feel his throat tighten. He didn’t want to start crying. Crying was for babies.

_ Your father doesn’t care about you,  _ the voice responded, implacable.

It was only then Ben realized that it sounded exactly like his. However, he was convinced it wasn’t coming from him.

Or was it?

_ It’s all your fault that your parents cannot get along. _

_ Even you leaving to get trained won’t grant them peace. The only way would be you dying.  _

_ But you’re hard to kill, aren’t you? _

No one in sight. It didn’t come from the sea either, for he could still hear nothing but its usual hum. It was driving Ben insane.

The only explanation he could find was that all this was coming from him, and that it was merely something he refused to admit to himself.

And this time, he didn’t even want to fall into the sea, like when he would hear the Voice. In those moments, there was a sense of incredible lightness that would take hold of him. But this time, he felt heavy, like a storm cloud.

_ A storm cloud. You have it in you, little one. Just set it free. _

There was part of him whispering that he shouldn’t listen, for the reason, once again, that it wasn’t right.

But this time, Ben Solo was tired of being the good little boy.

_ Listen to me. Let it out. Let it roar on the Galactic Sea, and everyone shall tremble when they will hear your name. _

From then, everything was blurry. All Ben would remember, weeks later, from that moment, was him closing his eyes, clenching his fists, holding tears from falling from his eyes, taking a deep breath which immediately unblocked his throat, and letting out what he thought was going to be a exhale…

…but turned out to be a scream.

Dark storm clouds, menacing with thunder and lightning, gathered around in the sky, the wind started howling, angering the waves, which went from a peaceful blue to sinister grey and white.

The rest happened like in a nightmare. Ben heard the crew’s cries of distress, random words spread here and there such as lifeboat, abandon, rescue, death. Sometimes, his name rang out, and it was only after a sailor pulled him away rather roughly that he finally regained his senses.

At that moment, his gaze came across the cabin boy.

He was, always alert, as competent as his young age and lack of experience would permit him. Nothing seemed to ever faze him…

But then cabin boy’s eyes finally met Ben’s.

What Ben saw in his face was sheer terror.

For a moment, he didn’t understand.

_ Don’t you see, little one? This storm is your doing. The sky and the sea have felt your ire and trembled under your cry, Sky-Walker son. _

It was the Voice, this time.

_ Don’t be afraid, little one. You will not die… Come to me… I’ll protect you, always… _

It was calling to him, and he could see the waves reaching towards the ship, towards him, like a mother’s open arms.

It took Ben an inhuman effort to resist the call and head towards a lifeboat, like everyone else. The effort was useless. A huge wave crashed on deck, carrying away everything that still lingered on it. Including Ben.

* * *

“Beebee-Ate! It’s a boat! A real one!”

Of course, that wreck she loved so much didn’t really count as a “real” boat, in her mind. That boat was  _ dead _ . And the one which had come across her way, in her quiet corner of the Galactic Sea, was very much  _ alive _ .

Before her companion could stop her, Rey swam towards the surface to get a better look. All she could see from underwater was the hull’s bottom.

However, when she arrived to the surface, all she saw was chaos.

Rey didn’t fear storms. The worst that could happen to someone was drowning… and obviously, for a mermaid, that wasn’t much of an issue. On the contrary, merfolk loved storms. Adults could even summon some, and then let the waves carry them away as they would dance and twirl with them, in some wild, seemingly never-ending dance.

Rey, however, didn’t let the waves drag her into their mad waltz. The ship was, for now, much more intriguing.

She went back under the waves, trying to find a way to find a way to get closer to the boat without being subjected to the waves’ every whim. Beebee-Ate quickly followed after her, swimming around her rather furiously, obviously displeased at seeing her so close to that boat. Scoffing at Beebee-Ate, Rey circled under the hull, despite it being erratic in movement, until she raised her head as she heard something crash into the water.

She saw a shape.

It only took a split second for Rey to remember the only creature presenting such a strange form, with two appendages instead of a tail. An Earthbound.

All those stories she heard came rushing back, and the only thing she could think was that for the very first time, she was going to see an Earthbound up close.

She quickly swam towards the Earthbound, Beebee-Ate in tow, protesting as always, and immediately grabbed him by the waist. She looked at his face, and gasped.

He was just a boy.

And he looked… dead.

Rey scolded herself for being so stupid. Of course, Earthbound couldn’t breathe underwater. She wouldn’t get anywhere with him if she kept him deprived of air for much longer…

She brought him back to the surface. The storm was still roaring strongly and she had to struggle to keep the boy’s head above the water. Before her eyes, she saw the sea swallow the ship, dragging it into the underwater inferno. For a moment, Rey stared at the sight, enthralled, before remembering her rescue mission.

She could swim to Lothal. It would be hard, but she could do it.

As she swam towards the island, struggling against the boy’s weight (thank Calypso, the Sea folk were strong!) and the storm, though the latter was coming to an end. She murmured a quiet thank you to the Goddess of the Sea before remembering that saving an Earthbound was certainly not going to put her in Calypso’s good graces.

Regardless, she had arrived at Lothal, managing to find a nice beach where the boy would certainly be safe. She let the waves push them onto the sand, and then crawled on the ground, dragging the boy with her. Finally, she laid him on the ground, his even breathing the only sign he was still alive. She sat beside him, eyeing him from head to toe with curiosity and awe.

She never thought she’d ever get this close to an Earthbound!

She stayed that way for a long time, her mood swinging between fear that one of her folk might see her with an Earthbound boy, and the excitement that she had done what many merchildren of her age wouldn’t even dare think of.

How could she, a Daughter of the Sea, help an Earthbound? Their kind had believed during dark ages that the Sea People were monsters that needed to be eradicated. From then, the merfolk had built their defenses, with Sirens in the frontlines. The hunt had ended long ago. But the paranoia still remained.

The boy, however, didn’t look like someone she should fear. He was perhaps four or five years her senior, his wet black hair stuck to his face, and he displayed a childish pout in his unconscious state. She found absolutely nothing threatening about him.

Softly, she removed a few strands of hair from his face. She hated that whenever she got out of the water, her hair hid her eyes, and she thought it might be the same for him.

Her fingers touching his face, however, seemed to lead him into waking up abruptly. She jumped and let out a squeal as he sat up and fell backwards, coughing violently. For a moment, Rey froze, and found herself unable to crawl back into the water and swim away before the boy could fully regain his senses.

_ Too late _ , she thought, wincing as the boy finally sat up and moved what hair was still on his face, distinguishing her silhouette despite his still blurry sight.

Rey swallowed, her eyes wide, still frozen, and cursed herself for her inertia, while the boy glared at her from head to toe, or rather, head to tail, and stared at her tail.

Her scales provided quite a contrast against the white sand. And, while they were normally yellow underwater, they were now glistening as if they were made of gold.

“You… you’re a mermaid?”

Rey had always been impulsive by nature. While the boy was still asleep, she had found him so helpless it had been easy for her to make herself believe that she had nothing to fear. But now that he was awake, she was getting nervous. She realized now the danger of the situation, and all those horrible stories she had heard about the Earthbound now flooded her mind. She had never believed them before, but perhaps they were true, and…

She had heard about the Hutts. She had no idea how they looked like, but she had been told how terrible they were and--

Maybe the boy was a Hutt and she didn’t know.

She did what she did best when she was frightened: she got angry.

“Yes!” squeaked Rey, her seven-year-old voice failing to sound genuinely intimidating. “I’m Rey, and I rescued you!”

The boy seemed even more dumbfounded then before. His eyes ran up and down Rey’s form again while gulping.

“But… they say the Sea People drown us…”

“And you try to capture us and sell us to the Hutts!” Rey replied, bringing forth one of the tales she had once heard. “Who’s to tell me you’re not a Hutt yourself?”

The boy’s ears turned red. Rey couldn’t help but think they were quite big. “I am not a Hutt!” he yelled. “You’ve probably never seen a Hutt yourself!”

“Maybe not, but I know they’re big and stupid! Like you!”

“I am not!”

“Are too!”

The boy chuckled and turned away from Rey, burying his face on his knees. Rey huffed and turned away as well. It barely lasted for ten seconds before the boy asked:

“Where am I?”

Rey turned around and met the boy’s eyes. She saw no hostility in them, but rather, something that looked like apprehension, which could easily turn into fright if given the right trigger.

Rey was young. But she knew she had to make sure he wouldn’t call his fellow Earthbound to capture her. Despite all her fascination for them, there was one thing she had learned from the Sea People: inspire fright in the Earthbound, and they won’t hurt you.

She was still afraid, and she knew she had to defend herself… just in case.

“On a desert island,” she said, trying not to look at him in the eye.

“Oh.” The boy was clearly trying to keep his voice even. “Is Lothal far away from here?”

“Not that far.”

“Oh… You sure no one lives on this island?”

“No. There aren’t any Hutts like you or Earthbound who come in this part of the sea.”

“I am not a Hutt! I’m a Jedi!”

The words had their effect on Rey, though it was barely perceptible. Her eyes widened, as she recalled the tales of the Jedi as well. Of all the stories she had heard of the Earthbound, the Jedi pirates’ legends were the friendliest towards their kind and the most fascinating. But of course, she wasn’t going to fall for something that was so clearly made up, especially from someone that big and that  _ stupid _ . Like the rest of her face, her eyes regained a cool composure. 

“I don’t believe you.”

“Fine,” he snorted. His resolve, however, quickly faded away. “So… you’re saying no one comes near here?”

“No.”

“So… you’re just going to leave me here?”

“I will, if you keep on being big and stupid!”

“It’s not my fault if I’m big!”

“You’re still stupid!”

“Am not! Anyway, you’re the first mermaid I meet, of course I’m…” He was going to say “scared”, but he stopped himself from doing so. He wasn’t going to admit to such an obnoxious little pest like that mermaid that he was scared.

But she seemed to understand, despite her young age. She stared at him for a while, looking impassible.

“You’re the first Earthbound I’ve met too,” she mumbled. However, she waved her tail in front of her, taking a more comfortable sitting position. The boy did the same.

“I’m Ben,” he whispered.

Rey smiled shyly. It lasted for a fraction of a second, before she bit her lower lip and looked elsewhere. Ben could tell, however, that she was obviously thinking very hard.

“Can I ask you something?” she finally asked.

“Of course,” Ben replied softly.

Rey took a deep breath.

“How is it to have those two weird things instead of a tail? How are the singing fish? How do they swim in the air? Oh! Can you swim in the air too if you flap your arms?”

Rey had managed to say everything in one breath. Ben’s mouth stayed wide open, not quite sure where to start. It was hard not to laugh at the sight of Rey with her eager eyes, even though she was still trying to look indifferent. She failed at it.

“Well, for one, I walk with my legs. Like this.” He got up, and started walking. Rey gaping at him was quite priceless.

“How do you stand on them? You’ve got to be really, really strong.”

“Of course I am,” said Ben, puffing his chest. “And about the singing fish… you mean birds?”

“Birds? You call them birds?” Rey scrunched her face. “I don’t like it. It’s not a pretty name.”

“Well, I’m surprised you don’t know more about birds. Don’t you see some albatross?”

“They’re not like the singing fish in the stories. When albatross sing, it doesn’t sound nice. I heard that singing fish’s voices are almost as nice as Sirens.”

“Well, maybe you’re hear some, one day. And maybe then, you’ll give them another name.”

“I’ll have to think of it. Their name has to be pretty. Not like “bird”,” said Rey, emphasizing the “ird”. “But can you swim in the sky? I always wonder how the singing fish and the albatross did that. I can’t feel air.” She waved her hand around while frowning. “See? I only feel it when there’s wind. And they fly even when there’s no wind.”

“Well, birds have wings. They’re kind of like fins, or tails. I don’t have wings, though, so I can’t fly.” Ben sighed. “I wish I could.”

_ Then I could get to Lothal,  _ he thought, feeling a lump form itself in his throat. But he kept that to himself.

Still…

“I have to go,” Ben whispered.

Rey’s face became contorted.  _ Oh. Not so feisty anymore. _

“You don’t want to stay with me?” she asked, in a thin voice. “I mean… it’s not that I like you,” she muttered, her face scrunching up again. “Anyway, since I’m going to become a Siren one day, well, you’re my prisoner.” She attempted to look fierce, but all Ben did was to roll his eyes and smirk, showing clearly that it was useless to fool him.

“You don’t know if you’ll become a Siren or not until your nineteenth birthday. That’s one thing I know about your kind.”

Rey’s face became very red, and she turned away pouting. Ben giggled.

They stayed that way for a while. Rey was obviously intent on sulking until Doomsday, and Ben had to admit he was quite glad to have found someone better at staying forever grumpy than he was. But as the minutes went by, he realized that he, on the other hand, couldn’t stay in this situation forever. He was even starting to get scared at the thought that he was going to stay on the island for the rest of his life, forgotten. He felt his lower lip trembling. Oh no, he wasn’t going to cry,  _ especially not _ in front of that little pest!

“I have to go with my Uncle Luke,” he whispered. “He’s probably worried sick right now. I’m going to become a Jedi pirate under his training.”

“Oh.” It was Rey’s only reaction.

“You surely have a mama and a papa waiting for you, don’t you, Rey?” Ben asked gently.

Ben saw her face break. There was no proud little nose and chin lifting up. He was even sure her lower lip slightly trembled.

“Well…” Rey twisted her fingers together. “I have Beebee-Ate. He’s a clown fish. But my papa and my mama are gone.”

“Gone?” exclaimed Ben, taken aback. “You mean you’re all alone?”

Rey didn’t answer. She merely nodded.

“Can’t you stay with me?” she pleaded. “Please? Pretty please?”

“So you do like me,” Ben smirked.

“I never said that,” Rey snapped. “I’m sure you’d be very... helpful. Even if you’re stupid.”

“Whatever. But Rey… I do like you, you know.”

He saw the shadow of a smile appear on Rey’s face. He had said the right words.

“Well… do you live near Lothal, Rey?”

She swallowed. “Yes… but I never go near.”

“Well, I’ll be living there. Can you… come and visit me? I’ll miss you if you don’t.”

Rey scrunched her mouth, as she was obviously thinking very hard of what Ben had just suggested to her. “You promise there won’t be any mean Hutts? Or Sith pirates?”

“Of course there won’t. I’ll be a Jedi pirate one day. I’ll protect you.”

Rey had a half-smile. “You know, one day, I will be a Siren. I don’t care what you say. And you’ll get in trouble because you’re stupid but I’ll help you because you’re nice.”

There was an irresistible glint of mischief in her eyes, and Ben found himself unable to get angry at her calling him stupid once again. He laughed, and so did Rey. At that moment, Ben couldn’t help but think that if the sea seemed so dark, it was because her smile had captured the sun rays trying to pierce through it. Rey. Her name fit her well.

“So… if no one comes here, how will I get to Lothal?”

It was back again. The feeling of helplessness. He felt a lump form itself in his throat. He saw Rey’s smile suddenly vanished. Ben looked at her in worry.

“Is… is there something wrong?”

“Well…” Rey twisted her fingers while biting her lip. She needed to forget about his lost little boy expression. It was just too… effective on her. She might as well tell him the truth. “You are on Lothal.”

“What? You made me believe I was on a desert island!” Rey didn’t want to look at Ben. She felt terrible, now, especially as all those stories about the Earthbound raced through her mind. Ben did like her, and he was nice, wasn’t he? And he looked so sad, so worried, so… abandoned. And the way she had behaved didn’t exactly prove that she was, well, nice towards him. Her lower lip started trembling. She was just about to start crying, and her eyes would get all dry, and it was especially terrible when she wasn’t underwater. She hated crying.

She then felt a hand on a shoulder. She dared to look up at Ben. There wasn’t a single hint of anger, not even disappointment. There was only some sort of understanding.

“Don’t be afraid of me, all right?” He paused and took a deep breath. “Some people are. I don’t want you to be that way too.”

For a moment, she glanced curiously at Ben. He simply smiled sadly. When questions started to want to get out of her mouth, she saw Ben turn away. It managed to discourage her from asking any questions.

“I’ll come and visit you here, every sunset,” Rey simply stated. “I promise."   



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the feedback, once again! It really thrills me!

Rey kept her promise.

She came every evening, at sunset, and Ben made everyone believe that he needed to go meditate alone on the beach at that time. Luke Skywalker knew, with Ben’s often unstable state, that this request was definitely a wish everyone should respect.

It gave Ben and Rey the perfect opportunity to meet.

They took precautions. After exploring the territory, Ben had found a cave he could easily access, and Rey reach it as well by another path. They would both meet on some big rock they could both climb on. Ben would come with a lantern, since the cave could get quite dark after sunset. That object absolutely fascinated Rey.

As the days, then the weeks passed, Ben felt more and more peaceful. He didn’t hear the Voice anymore. He somehow regretted it, but it was a stretch to say he truly missed it. He didn’t know if it was due to Uncle Luke’s training or Rey’s friendship, but either way, things were going for the better. He hadn’t told Luke the whole story about how he had actually invoked the storm. It perturbed Ben immensely, and he simply didn’t know how to talk about it without having the cabin boy’s terrified face flashing in his mind. Luke, of course, had found it odd that only his nephew was the sole survivor of that shipwreck, but he had also been wise enough not to ask any questions about it. 

In time, Ben also learned not to think too much about it, preferring to center his thoughts on Luke and Rey. He also missed his parents, despite their far from perfect relationship, but it was a well-known fact that absence makes the heart grow fonder...

His powers were developing as well. There were less and less accidents, and this helped him gain some peace of mind. But there was, of course, an important test awaiting him.

It was after all always around thirteen or fourteen that a Skywalker would start shifting into a merman form while going into the water. And for Ben, that time had come.

He hadn’t told Rey about it. He wanted to pass that trial first, then tell her. And the thought of her joy as she would probably get to show him her underworld world with him undetected by the Sea Folk made him even happier than the whole shifting thing.

The trial was quite simple, actually. On that bright morning, he had followed Uncle Luke to a beach, wearing a short tunic, while he wore no socks or shoes. He wouldn’t need them, after all.

He didn’t even glance once at Uncle Luke while he bravely made his way towards the sea, his feet getting wet, then his legs, and…

The water was at the level of his waist when Ben suddenly felt sick. Images of the storm, the shipwreck, all because of him, came to his mind, and him almost drowning, and--

_ I see you… _

_ Come to me… _

_ Just one step more… _

_ It _ was back.

Ben panicked, as the world started spinning around him, and he raced out of the water as if he was a cat thrown into it.

After a few seconds of stupor, as he regained consciousness of his surroundings, he finally remembered Luke’s presence. Ben refused to glance at him, fearing to see disappointment in his uncle’s face.

But Luke merely patted his shoulder.

“It’s fine. We’ll just do it another day. I understand.”

Of course Uncle Luke was all understanding and calm with the whole thing. But Ben knew very well that he had proven himself to be a failure that day.

He didn’t go to see Rey, that evening.

It was only the next morning that he felt guilty of doing so. Rey had probably waited for him all evening.

He would apologize to her, perhaps bring her some object that would certainly feed her never-ending curiosity: he doubted she’d be angry at him for very long.

He came with a picture book. He couldn’t help but think how silly he was of not thinking of that before. With Rey being so curious about his world, a picture book would be the perfect way to show her everything she wanted to know – and most especially, show her what a Hutt was.

Ben waited for Rey all evening, and for a good part of the night.

She never came.

She was probably angry. She had decided not to come that night. But perhaps she would be there tomorrow…

Yes, she would be there tomorrow. Rey was never angry for very long, after all…

She didn’t come the next day. Nor the day after.

For the next seven days, Ben came every evening to their secret cave.

On the seventh day, he became convinced he had lost his friend and he would never see her again.

He was a failure. Towards his family, and towards his best friend.

That night, he never cried so bitterly in his entire life.

That night, the Voice came back.

The suiting song the Voice sang drove him out of his despair, and even managed to put him to sleep that night.

And from that night, there was no Rey, and not even Uncle Luke’s training granting him peace. Only the Voice. 

It soothed him like a mother, telling a tale about a different star each night. Ben expected the Voice to come one day to his grandmother’s story, but it never did. 

He learned about many other stars--Revan, Bastila, Meetra, Atton, Luminara, Ventress--and he came to a point where he realized that in every story, it always ended up the same way. 

They died for the people they loved, but they were alone, or in despair, or worse-- both. 

* * *

Ben was so stupid.

She had spent the entire evening waiting for him, and he hadn’t shown up. He was so stupid, he probably forgot all about their usual meeting.

Rey swam back home, repeating “stupid” in her mind like a mantra. It somehow relieved her.

“Beebee-Ate! Ben is even more stupid than a Hutt.”

The clown fish, who was waiting for her to make the journey back home, nodded in approval. Of course, he didn’t approve of Rey leaving every evening to go to Lothal and meet her Earthbound friend. He had tried at first to forbid her from going, but of course, the tiny fish couldn’t do much.

Well, at least now, she was going to act more sensibly…

For a few long minutes, Rey didn’t utter a word as they swam towards the coral reef. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t see the growing darkness around her. However, Beebee-Ate did and started swimming around Rey to warn her. Instead, it only annoyed her even more, and she shooed Beebee-Ate away from her in frustration.

But almost soon after, she saw the darkness engulfing them both, and she lost consciousness.

Just before falling, she thought that perhaps for once, it would have been a good idea to listen to Beebee-Ate. He would never know that, of course.

When she woke, the first thing she saw was the clown fish panicking even more than usual. Rey quickly rose and saw that, instead of her small piece of paradise under the sea , she was in a vast and desolate area cluttered with shipwrecks.

“Finally awake!” a rough voice shouted behind her. “Good thing you’re up. I was just about to shake you silly to wake you up. After all that travelling, you sure are a heavy sleeper. Better not slow down business.”

She turned around to see an unpleasant looking octopus glaring at her. Immediately, she swallowed in discomfort.

“You better tell that little rascal of yours to calm down. I’ll sure sell him as shark food if he doesn’t keep quiet.”

Those words had an immediate effect on Beebee-Ate, who hid behind Rey for protection. She picked him up in her hands, clutching him to her chest.

“Where am I?” she asked, trying without success to make the quiver in her voice disappear.

“The deal is that, I can’t tell you who brought you here,” replied the octopus. “Anyway, my name’s Unkar Plutt, and I needed a new scavenger. You’re just the girl for the job. Now get to work.”

And so Rey worked. 

Her life became an unending routine of searching shipwrecks for bits and pieces she couldn’t keep for herself as before, to trade for food to Unkar Plutt, since it was impossible to find any elsewhere in this deserted place under the sea. She often had to fight for what she scavenged, and even for the food she got in exchange.

The little mermaid slowly grew claws of her own and learned to truly bite back. Her nineteenth birthday would come one day, and she would find her path, perhaps even become a Siren and never be bothered by anyone again. Yet despite everything, somehow, she still remained kind.

She thought of her parents, and without the cruel things she heard about them back at the reef, the mental picture she had of them only became more embellished.

And there was Ben, of course.

Maybe he wasn’t so stupid after all.

* * *

_ Don’t you see, Sky-Walker son? Luke is the one who took Rey away from you. _

_ He discovered you were friends with a mermaid. And you know how your kind is towards the Sea People… _

_ He fears you. He fears you might become more merman than human. It runs in your family. _

“LIAR!”

Ben realized he had shouted out loud.

Nervously, he looked around him, hoping that no one heard his shouting and would come running towards the beach. Thankfully, there was no one.

He was the descendant of heroes. How could whoever was torturing him so whisper such a horrible falsehood? His grandparents were Anakin Skywalker, one of the greatest Jedi pirates, who died during Order 66 like so many Jedi like him, Padmé Amidala, the infamous pirate queen, Captain Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, one of the most influential figures of the New Pirate Republic…

He called for the Voice, hoping to get some sort of comfort as it usually gave him. But this time, the Voice remained strangely silent.

The beach and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore suddenly made him feel nauseous. He got up, wiped away the sweat on his forehead, and headed towards the docks, hoping that the lively atmosphere, and the cheerful chatter of the sailors would distract him. It never helped him forget his problems, but it did provide some entertainment, and the stories were always interesting. Sometimes, he would even hear news of his father or his mother’s accomplishments. It never failed to fill him with pride. The sailors, of course, never knew who his parents were, and it only made the stories even better, as they were full of praise, and Ben knew it was genuine.

This day, however, the atmosphere seemed incredibly heavy, as the sailors were unusually silent.

“Hey boy!” one of the sailors shouted to Ben. “Bet you didn’t know what just happened at the New Pirate Republic siege.”

Ben’s heart skipped a beat. That was where his mother usually was, when she wasn’t sailing.

“Leia Organa got banned for the rest of her lifetime from the Hosnian islands. I have to say she barely got out of there alive. When she tried leaving, people wanted her head.”

For a moment, Ben wanted to laugh out loud. It was a dream, just a dream, a very bad nightmare, and his laugh would wake him up and end this…

“Someone brought pretty big evidence that she’s Darth Vader’s daughter. Who would have known? Apparently, Anakin Skywalker didn’t die during Order 66 like all the other Jedi. He’s actually the one who betrayed them all. Real shame, though. I liked her. But Calypso be damned, I can’t believe such a filthy liar was running for Grand Captain.”

It was too much for Ben to bear. He clenched his fists, closing his eyes, holding back tears which were burning his eyes. Dark clouds started appearing at the horizon.

“Damn,” a sailor exclaimed, “I sure didn’t see that storm coming.”

Thunder bellowed as Ben ran towards the cave where Rey and he usually met so many years ago.

Ten years, already. He was twelve then. Now, he was nearly twenty-three, still plagued with that phobia of water ever since that shipwreck, and still tormented. He had managed to learn over the years to hide it to Uncle Luke. He didn’t need to see that weakness of his.

Uncle Luke. He was the filthy liar to have never told him that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were the same person. His father probably knew as well and never told him either.

_ There’s too much of his grandfather in him. _

Over the years, Ben had never forgotten those words. Of course his father knew. And he probably thought his son was a freak.

And his mother…

A sob escaped from Ben’s throat. He couldn’t accuse his mother of being…

_ A liar. _

For what seemed like hours, he only heard the sound of his sobs echoing through the cave.

_ You poor unfortunate soul… _

The Voice was back. Ben got up, welcoming it like the sound of a mother’s voice after a nightmare.

_ Your father is wrong. You aren’t a freak. Neither was your grandfather. They’re all wrong. Your mother should have never been banned. _

_ If only she saw the truth… _

“What truth?” Ben asked out loud.

He was certain for a moment he felt a soft hand caressing the top of his head, than his shoulder.

_ Immortal life. _

His head jerked up, as he frowned, trying to understand. He recalled his history lessons; many Sith had tried to find the secret to immortality. It was said that Darth Plagueis, surnamed the Wise by many, had pierced its mysteries, but that with his death and his apprentice Darth Sidious’ as well, his discoveries were forever lost.  _ And for the better, _ Luke had said.  _ Who knew who could happen if such secrets fell into ill-meaning hands like the first time? _

* * *

The new Jedi Order was to rise that day.

And instead, it met chaos.

They were going to set sail, but the sailors boarded at Lothal, coming from all corners of the Galactic Sea, and quickly becoming aware of Leia Organa and thus, Luke Skywalker’s lineages. The Jedi Order, risen from the ashes by Darth Vader’s son, was now met with more than distrust. There was fear and anger still present from more than twenty years since Darth Vader had died.

Ben  _ knew _ , and it was horrible.

Luke had tried reaching for his nephew amiss all the chaos. The academy was a mess, with some apprentices turning against their former master and joining the sailors and inhabitants in their witch hunt. Others firmly stood with Luke, and now, it was all a matter of running away to relative safety.

Luke knew Ben was with them. It was easy to recognize the boy’s tall silhouette which stood apart from all the others.

_ The boy _ . Ben was no child, not anymore. The gawky teenager had become a man. But in Luke’s eyes, Ben was still so very young, in so many ways. 

He had always been a lone wolf. Luke attributed his immaturity to a lack of proper interaction with people. He was still unable to pass the great Skywalker trial because of his aquaphobia, which certainly hadn’t helped the matter. Luke had thought that sailing along with a crew would force him to become more aware of his surroundings… well, he hoped so.

But now, Luke regretted he hadn’t reached out to his nephew earlier. He regretted that he hadn’t viewed him as an adult who deserved to hear the truth. He had made the exact same mistake as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda had done so many years ago about revealing that to him that his father Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were the same man. He remembered his anger, which lasted long after Vader’s demise.

Ben was even more sensitive than he ever was. And not knowing how Ben felt at that moment was even more unbearable than having to run for their lives and try sailing away from Lothal.

There was a storm in the air, just waiting to erupt. The escape would be dangerous for all of them, but they didn’t have a choice. He could feel negative energy thrown all over the place, and its signature was just all too recognizable to Luke, who started to wonder if the storm was actually Ben’s fault.

The new Jedi Order’s ship, which had meant that day to sail off triumphantly, was thankfully not berthed in Lothal’s main harbor. Luke had arranged a port for the Order only, hoping that one day, they would have more than just one ship…

Hopefully, the  _ Obi-Wan  _ would take them to safety, since word had come to Luke  that Leia had found an asylum in the Illenium peninsula. Luke could only hope this wasn’t a trap, but at this point, his apprentices and him would have to fight for their survival. They could only hope the mob hadn’t reached their harbor before they did and attempted to damage the  _ Obi-Wan _ …

Thankfully, no damage had been done to the ship, but they would have to fight their way.

Luke wished he had never lived to see this day. Of course, this was self-defense, but to have to come to the point he had to kill the frightened and angry inhabitants of such a peaceful place… 

They finally went boarded the  _ Obi-Wan _ and the first thing that came to Luke’s mind was to look for Ben, despite the impending storm. 

He sensed Ben’s presence on their ship. And when he found him, he had just released a homing pigeon, sending with it a small message well-wrapped around its leg.

Ben’s face was undecipherable. This did not reassure Luke.

“I sent word to the Illenium peninsula,” Ben said flatly. “They should send support towards our way.”

Luke nodded, half-relieved. Still. The hardest part of the conversation he needed to have with Ben was still to come.

“Ben… I’ve been looking for you in the past few days and…”

“Yes?” Ben snapped. “What do you have to say,  _ Jedi _ ?”

The sneer was only too present. Luke had to gather inhumane strength to remain impassive.

“It’s not what you think it is, Ben, please… I should have told you before, and…”

“And? That’s all? It’s too late, Jedi. You’ve lost.”

Luke couldn’t turn away. Not now. He hadn’t given up on his father until the very end, and it wouldn’t be the same with Ben. And anyway, it wasn’t like his nephew was anywhere close to Darth Vader.

“I do have one question for you, Jedi…”

_ Just let him talk. Let him get angry, let him shout. It will all pass. It won’t get back to normal, but it will get better. _

“Where is  _ she _ ?”

Luke didn’t expect that, of all questions.

“Who?”

“You know who I’m talking about, Jedi. What did you do with her? Did you kill her?”

“Kill who, Ben? I don’t understand. Please, don’t make this harder as it already is.”

But Ben only turned away. Luke knew, at that moment, that trying to reach to him would be useless.

“You need to calm down,” he said sternly. “I don’t want that storm to cause a wreckage and kill us all, including you. You know a thing about this, it seems.”

Ben perhaps had issues of his own, but endangering the crew was a whole other matter. And if Luke was going to start treating him as an adult, might as well start the hard way. Ben would probably become captain some day…

He heard his nephew’s heavy steps as he headed towards his cabin. He quickly heard crashing, which lasted for a long moment. Luke hesitated between going down and ordering him to stop destroying everything in his room in as way to redirect his anger or letting him be. Luke was thankful the storm still hadn’t burst yet. But Ben had a right to be angry, after all those years of not knowing. It wasn’t quite the Jedi way, but still. There was also something Luke knew that Ben wasn’t aware of. And now, he felt worried sick because of it.

Ben, in the meantime, was already mentally a thousand miles away from his uncle and the Jedi Order. All he could hear was what the Voice had revealed to him the day before. The Voice had told him a lot of things over the last few days, far too much for a lifetime. But now, he knew what he had to do. 

_ Luke Skywalker killed Rey. He discovered you befriended one of the Sea folk. The Jedi used to  believe they were dangerous. They slaughtered them in great number, once. That’s one of the reasons why the Great Wars of the Old Republic with Revan and Malak started. He’s just continuing what the Jedi Order has always done. _

_ You’re his nephew. Of course, he was merciless with Rey. _

_ He denies his true origins. Do not be disgusted by Darth Vader. He embraced who he was, and you must as well. Don’t run away from it. The Skywalker trial is nothing more than nonsense. Follow me, and you shall be free. _

The Voice had become even more seductive than before. And at twenty-three years of age, Ben would have been a fool not to admit he was immune to it.

Soon, it would all be over. Skywalker would be unable to harm anyone for good.

And he--

He thought of all those times where he thought of himself as a failure, when he looked at how big and blue the sea was, gliding over it without faltering aboard a ship, but becoming crippled with fear whenever he thought of plunging into it. 

_ You’re not a coward, nor a failure,  _ the Voice would say.  _ The blood of the Sea folk and the Earthbound flows in your veins, and your grandfather was the greatest mage of all times. You are destined to greater things…  _

But suddenly, the air became tense. For the first time, the Voice’s presence held a sense of menace, and Ben’s instincts yelled at him to run away--but how? 

Instead, he just let it be, and he forgot about his initial unease. 

_ You will be asked to make a great sacrifice. Such is the lot of everyone who fights his way to power and respect. What you did today was only the beginning. When your time will come, will you be willing to do  _ more _?  _

Ben frowned. This was getting a bit too cryptic for him. 

_ Remember…  _ insisted the Voice, while Ben felt a touch on his shoulder, just like that night where Rey had disappeared.  _ I am the only one who can help you. No one else will…  _

_ No one else cares.  _

That last sentence was said so softly Ben didn’t seem to realize its true significance. 

He smiled, as a way of accepting the will of his new master. 

The storm faded away as a sense of false peace came over Ben, bringing relief to Luke who believed his nephew had calmed down.

It was nothing but dead silence before the storm.

That day, the new Jedi Order fell without ever truly rising. The homing pigeon hadn’t brought a message to Leia Organa, but to what was going to be known to the Galactic Sea as the First Order.

And of course, their first gesture, after all those years of preparing in secret and basing themselves on the remnants of the former Empire, was to annihilate the Jedi Order for good.

On that day, the  _ Obi-Wan _ was destroyed along with all the padawans who had remained faithful to Luke. Among the bodies, Luke Skywalker was nowhere to be found.

Ben Solo also died that day.

But like a phoenix, he rose from the ashes of his past, becoming known from that day throughout the Galactic Sea as Kylo Ren.

Such a resurrection didn’t have the enchantment it usually entails.

After all, it was on that day Ben Solo sold his soul.


	4. Chapter 4

They didn’t call it war. But it was only a matter of time. 

Within the New Republic, there were many who thought there wouldn’t just be war against the First Order, but civil war as well. The Empire wasn’t as dead as everyone had been led to believe over the last twenty years. Many of the Empire’s old crews, as well as some other unsatisfied with the New Republic, came to fight under the flag of the First Order. 

There were, according to the rumors, two factions to the First Order. Everyone in the Galactic Sea was unsure as to which faction they’d rather deal with. The “official” faction was already quite terrifying. Their captains and officers were said to be reincarnations of the ones from the old Empire which many wanted to forget about. For their galerians and sailors, they chose to call them Stormtroopers, like the old days. The Empire had seemingly rose from the dead in the form of the First Order.

The other faction, however… no one was certain if they were merely just another legend dreamt up by superstitious sailors scared out of their minds by a mysteriously distinctive storm that followed shipwrecks.

They were called the Knights of Ren. No one was quite sure if they were merely another legend among many others. It didn’t help that they were operating far more discreetly that the main faction. Combined with the stories of those who had the great misfortune of meeting them, it was rather surprising that the Galactic Sea hadn’t seen more of them.

Perhaps the First Order was saving the worst for later. It was something everyone hoped was going to prove itself untrue.

No one knew where they came from. Some said they had been Earthbound once. But one thing was certain: the mermen now seemed quite tame compared to them. The sailors said they looked as if they had rose from the pits of the Underworld and had collected all the scum of the sea on the way to the surface. One claimed to have seen a Knight of Ren with octopus tentacles instead of a beard. Another told one of them seemed to have a sea urchin stuck on a cheek. Some even talked about one whose skin seemed to be made of dead coral.

The commonest rumor was that Ben Solo, son of former New Pirate Republic heroes Han Solo and Leia Organa, was master of the Knights of Ren. He had been the first to sell his soul, and get his heart ripped out by the sea witch who was, rather than Admiral Hux, pulling the strings of the First Order. In exchange, like his companions after him, he had gained immortal life. Only a lightsaber, a Jedi pirate’s weapon, could harm them in any way.

They were invincible, for there were no Jedi to fight them.

All that Poe Dameron knew, even after the truth about her lineage being revealed and rumors of her son joining the First Order’s ranks, was that Leia Organa seemingly didn’t care. She went from one island to the other, recruiting a brave Resistance to fight against the First Order while she watched the very same New Pirate Republic that she had helped found fall apart.

It was madness. And yet, Poe Dameron had managed to end up exactly where he wanted to be.

The situation was certainly far from ideal, but he was convinced he was doing the right - no, the best thing. In going from one ship to another, he had heard of the whole scandal surrounding Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker’s parentage. This leading to the First Order emerging and the foundation of the Resistance. He had been one of the very first to join. After all, even though his parents had died when he was very young, he had never forgotten that they had been close friends to the Skywalker twins during the Rebellion.

When Leia told him that he had become the most daring pirate of the Resistance, he couldn’t help but straighten up a bit with pride. Captain Organa wasn’t usually prolific with praise, and with her being his idol, it was definitely one of the best things he could hear these days. He knew she wouldn’t like him taking too much pleasure in her compliment. But this time, she seemed to be in a good enough mood to just smile indulgently.

“I need to assign you to a mission of utmost importance,” she continued. “You know my brother has been missing for over a year, haven’t you?” Poe nodded. “Well, I’ve kept it under wraps as long as possible since we cannot allow ourselves to take any risks, but he has managed to send proof my way that he’s still alive. He’s even been sending clues regarding the desert island where he’s hiding by sending map fragments to several people he trusts.”

“Forgive me, captain, but…” Poe cleared his throat, uneasy. “Can’t he… swim back? I mean, I do know about your family’s… how can I say it…”

“Sorcery?” Leia smirked.

“Captain, I beg your pardon, that’s not what I meant and-”

Leia merely waved her hand while chuckling, clearly showing she didn’t even care anymore.

“Quite ironic, isn’t it? Luke managed to swim to a desert island, thanks to the powers given to us by our ancestors, but now he can’t swim back. Who knows what could happen if he did take the risk? The Sea People won’t be exactly kind to him. And make of it what you will, young man, but I believe those stories about the Knights of Ren.”

Poe swallowed uncomfortably as he recalled those rumors, especially the ones involving Ben. He hadn’t forgotten his childhood friend, during all those years. It was the most horrible thing to wish, but he almost preferred Ben to have been dead rather than having him become one of those… monsters.

Of course, this was one thing he had to keep to himself. He wondered now how Captain Organa still managed to fight after all this.

Perhaps, it was the only thing left for her.

“If the Knights of Ren manage to find Luke while he’s making his way towards us, I don’t even want to fathom what they might do. They could turn him into a weapon that would be used against us. And that is something I absolutely don’t want to occur.”

_ Because you might have to fight and kill your own son. _ Once again, Poe kept that to himself, but his dark expression didn't escape Leia’s notice. She smiled sadly.

“It means we have to get to Luke the hard way,” she continued. “Thank the Maker, all the clues he sent actually reached some people we both trust. They’ve all been graceful enough to bring all the fragments to me. Except one. Lor San Tekka. He’s an old friend of Luke living in Jakku. I’m aware he’s been watched by the First Order for a while. He’s been wise enough not to leave and bring the last piece to me, so I have to send someone fetch it. And that’s why I’m asking you.”

Poe immediately accepted, without a second thought. He set sail for the volcanic island of Jakku, and met Lor San Tekka.

The old man, however, didn’t have the fragment to Luke anymore.

“It’s come to the point it’s too dangerous for me to keep it. It’s hard to believe I’ve kept treasure and pirate relics successfully for so many years of my life,” he laughed mirthlessly. “I’ve sent it to someone I trust living on Takodana.”

“Fine,” replied Poe. “Don’t mind the extra travelling. It’ll make things safer for everyone. I’ll make a few stops to hide my tracks as well. The First Order probably won’t be too far away.”

At the thought of them, Poe couldn’t help but frown. “You shouldn’t stay here,” he told Tekka. “They’ll know I’ve come here. They’ll kill you and everyone in your village as well.”

The old man had shook his head. “I’ll do my best to convince as much people as I can to leave. Some will be too stubborn and will want to stay. So will I. I will help them organize their defenses. I won’t abandon them.”

As Poe sailed away, he was pained to admit to himself he was unsure if Lor San Tekka was going to live, and he couldn’t help but feel responsible. 

He tried to forget, at least for the moment, about Tekka and focus on his mission. He held his breath as he observed the surroundings with his telescope. A ship on the horizon soon caught his eye. It was too risky for him to try to get closer, and see the ship’s flag. He, of course, for safety’s sake, had taken down the Resistance flags.

Soon, he was able to see the flag. A First Order flag. He tried to sail away, but it was all useless. The ship was far faster than he was, and even his best piloting skills couldn’t help him. Poe cursed under his breath.. Of course, he could choose to attack, but the First Order ship would be merciless and tear him to pieces.

But perhaps that ship was going straight towards Jakku.

Poe realized at that moment that he was unimportant. He knew where the last piece was, but only Lor San Tekka knew its new location. The best thing he could do now was to give the old man some time.

And so, Poe valiantly prepared himself for attack.

It took of course only minutes before he got overwhelmed. But the First Order ship didn’t seem so intent on sinking him. Instead, the first thing they did was to immediately send a few Stormtroopers aboard, and, after some resistance, he was captured.

He was immediately brought to the lower level of the First Order ship. He wasn’t there to see it all happen, but he could hear the cannons burst, and his ship was sunk. Poe’s heart tightened. He had purchased it himself, with credits he had saved over the years in order to fulfill his dreams, and now it was all gone.

As he was laid down on a board and had both his wrists and his ankles cuffed, he noticed growing nervousness among the Stormtroopers as they gave frightened glances over their shoulders. They left the room where Poe was being held prisoner as quickly as they could. A few seconds later, he heard heavy steps coming towards him.

The room was very dark, but with the torches, Poe Dameron managed to distinguish the features of the creature who had just entered. And despite the years, the curse - he was somehow still able to recognize him. He felt a lump form itself in his throat – but he couldn’t falter, not now. 

“So… what they say is true, then.” Poe laid his head on the wooden plank, seemingly unfazed. However, his heartbeat seemed to mask all the other sounds. “I missed you… Ben.”

The creature suddenly seemed to snap away from the silent contemplation he had from the moment he’d entered, and Poe felt his head suddenly smash back onto the board.

“That boy is dead,” he answered, in a voice that seemed almost too human for the creature he had become. “He was weak and foolish, so I destroyed him.”

“Damn. I’m sorry,” Poe heard himself reply, before getting his head smacked against the wood again.  _ Ouch. Me and my big mouth. _

But despite his apparent temerity, there was one question, now, that plagued his mind, as memories of his… no, rather their childhood flew through his mind. He remembered the boy he knew. 

_ What the hell did they do to you, Ben? _

 

* * *

 

Finn couldn’t handle it anymore.

He didn’t understand why he wanted to flee so badly. He had been with the First Order for years, well, rather, for as long as he could remember. It had only been a year since they had finally come out of the shadows and started their conquest of the Galactic Sea, to end the New Pirate Republic and re-establish a new Empire.

This was Finn’s first mission. He had always been considered one of the best recruits, despite a regrettable tendency to care a bit too much about his fellow men. After all, a Stormtrooper’s primary objective was their mission, and nothing else.

Now, he just wanted to flee.

It had only been a day since Kylo Ren had come aboard, and Finn was considering advising his superiors that he hadn’t signed up for this (well, to be honest, he hadn’t signed up for anything. He didn’t have much of a choice in the first place. But anyway). When they had arrived on Jakku, however, Finn knew exactly what was going to happen.

He had seen the village all ready to defend itself. He already knew it was a hopeless cause for them all. He didn’t want to have any part in the massacre that would follow. He had managed to snatch a telescope and look at the inhabitants. There were men, but also women, children and elderly. And despite this being Finn’s first mission, he knew full well how it would end for all of them.

He needed to escape, and there was only one way for it to happen.

He didn’t know how on Earth he had managed to convince Captain Phasma to be the one to stay behind and guard the prisoner. Either way, she had accepted, he would free the prisoner, take a lifeboat, and everything would be fine.

Hopefully.

He waited a few minutes until he was absolutely certain there was no one left on board. In the meantime, his face remained impassive, and he avoided as much as possible to have any eye contact with the prisoner. Thankfully, the prisoner more or less helped in the matter: he had taken quite a beating and now seemed to be asleep, as far as Finn could see.

“Hey? You awake?”

This was so awkward.

The prisoner’s eyes fluttered open. He hissed in pain as he became aware of his surroundings. “Wait… what?”

“I’m Finn, and I’m here to rescue you!”

The Resistance pirate was awake now. He glared at Finn up and down. “Wait… what kind of nonsense is this? You’re a Stormtrooper.”

“Not for very long. I’m escaping, and you’re coming with me. I need someone to help me navigate.”

The prisoner remained silent for a while. He smirked. “I like your way of thinking,” he said. Finn was almost certain he saw him wink. “Poe Dameron, by the way. You?”

“Finn. The name’s Finn.”

“Finn. Now that’s a good name. So…” he added, trying to lift his arms and legs up but failing due to the cuffs. “Are you going to help me get out of this first?”

The next few minutes were hazy. Finn guided Poe, who was mobile despite his injuries, towards the lifeboats, but the fear of the troops and Kylo Ren returning any minute to the ship slowed them. Perhaps, they wouldn’t even have time to get far away enough…

This was their only chance. They couldn’t falter, not now.

As soon as the lifeboat was in the water, both of them breathed a sigh of relief. But they still hadn’t escaped yet. Thankfully, Finn was a Stormtrooper, and rowing quickly was a Stormtrooper’s specialty.

Poe had him go alongside Jakku, in order to later on row away to the nearest inhabited island in the Western Reaches while lowering chances of being seen by the First Order. Soon, the shores of Jakku became more and more distant, and soon, it was nothing more than a faraway dot on the horizon.

However, it didn’t take long before they both heard some sort of bubbling near them. Finn and Poe looked at each other.

“You… you know a thing or two about the Western Reaches, right?” Finn asked. “You sure there aren’t any sea monsters in these corners?”

Poe shrugged and tried looking as calm as possible. “Beats me. Anyway, I’m sure we’ll be fi-”

Tentacles grabbing the lifeboat interrupted Poe. Finn shouted in terror, grabbed one of the oars, and started to hit the creature’s tentacles in a desperate attempt to harm it. Poe soon joined him in his efforts, but it soon became clear it was be useless.

A scream suddenly pierced the air, so shrill that Finn and Poe had to drop the rows to cover their ears. The creature let go of their small lifeboat, but not before rending it in two, leaving Finn and Poe to desperately cling to the wreckage in order to not drown. They then saw creature rise from the water.

A rathtar.

“Oh great,” muttered Poe, whose seemingly perpetual good mood had come to a halt. “I don’t know how we’re gonna get rid of that one.”

Another silhouette, suddenly, came out of the water as well, facing the rathtar, her back facing Poe and Finn. Both men, forgetting about the impending dread for a few seconds, watched in fascination as they noticed how human the silhouette was, especially as they were able to distinguish that it actually appeared to be a girl. Her long brown hair flowed freely down her back, with the exception of three small buns on the back of her head. Her frame was slender, but her shoulders were squared as her arms were extended as if she was blocking the rathtar from them both.

She shouted in a language neither of them could understand, her voice feminine but still surprisingly deep for someone as frail-looking as she was. The rathtar backed away, but still remained. Finn and Poe heard it growl, and the girl flinched, then became defiant again. She tilted her head and muttered a few words in a menacing tone. Finally, the rathtar relented and went back underwater. The girl turned towards Finn and Poe. She couldn’t have been older than nineteen or twenty. 

She swam in their direction, and it was only then that they were able to see a golden tail instead of legs.

A mermaid. Of course. How could have they not seen that earlier?

Who knew what she would do to them, now that the rathtar was gone?

Finn now had the disagreeable impression that both creatures were actually fighting for food rather than the mermaid attempting to rescue them. What was he thinking? A mermaid saving a human. That was unheard of!

“There’s a desert island, not too far away. You don’t seem to be able to navigate anymore, do you? I could take you there and arrange for rescue to come.”

Both Poe and Finn were taken aback. For a moment, the mermaid looked at their startled faces, before bursting out in laughter.

“You both look as if I’m going to eat you,” she finally managed to say.

“Well, why not?” Finn asked. “You’re a mermaid, after all.”

“Not a mermaid,” she replied, shrugging. “A Siren.”

The two men’s faces were simply too priceless for her to regret her teasing. She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to eat you,” she sighed. “Now do you want to get out of here, yes or no?”

Poe and Finn glanced at each other. They had no other choice.

“Hold on to your planks,” she said. “I’ll guide towards the island. I’m Rey, by the way. Who are you? Where do you come from?”

“I’m Poe,” he said, finding his usual ease again. “And this is my buddy, Finn. We’re both Resistance pirates.”

At Poe’s last words, Finn couldn’t help but smile. 

“Oh,” Rey replied. “I’ve never heard of you.”

“Not surprising,” Poe laughed. “You must be aware of the First Order’s activities, though?” She nodded, permitting to Poe to continue. “Well, the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa, is against them. And now, we’re all looking for Luke Skywalker.”

Rey suddenly froze. Memories rushed through her head. She had never forgotten, but never had it seemed as vivid as now. Luke Skywalker. Ben’s uncle.

_ Ben? _

“Luke Skywalker? Do… do you know anything about someone accompanying him? His nephew… his name is Ben.”

She couldn’t recall a time where she had smiled so widely, but she didn’t like the way Poe and Finn looked at each other. Poe eventually managed to give a sympathetic smile.

“Ben… was my friend. Just before he joined Luke Skywalker.” Both Finn and Rey looked at Poe in surprise. He grinned sadly. “But, since then… I don’t know what happened. He changed, I guess. He’s with the First Order, now.”

“And-” Finn started talking, but Poe shut him up with a glare. It earned them both funny looks from Rey, but she instinctively knew it would be useless to insist. Oh well. She’d probably have to figure it out by herself.

The rest of the journey to the island was silent. When Finn and Poe finally managed to reach the shore and collapse on the ground, they both sighed in relief. They would be safe. No First Order re-capturing them, at least not for a while.

“So…” Finn finally asked. “What are you planning to do?”

“Well, I told you I was a Siren, didn’t I? I’m going to attract a ship to come your way, they’ll pick you up and bring you to a harbor where you can easily find help.”

She rolled her eyes as she saw Finn and Poe’s widen. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. Of course I wasn’t joking earlier. Anyway, if I did want to harm you earlier, I would have done so long ago.”

“Yeah… but if you… sing, because you’re going to sing, right? We’re both going to go crazy,” said Finn.

Rey shrugged. “Find a way. Tie yourselves against a rock or something. I heard some Jedi pirate did that once to resist a Siren’s song.”

 

* * *

 

In the end, that was what Finn and Poe were forced to do.

“Anytime, now,” Poe shouted, as Rey nodded and looked towards the horizon.

It took a few hours before, finally, Rey managed to see something coming near.

“You sure it’s not a First Order ship?” Finn yelled.

Rey squinted, then shook her head. “No. I don’t see any affiliation, actually. Well, if you get harmed in any way, don’t worry. I’ll protect you two. And if they aren’t cooperative, you’ll… borrow their ship.”

Finn sighed, while Poe merely chuckled. Rey ignored them, turning towards the ship in the horizon, and started singing.

It was a good thing they were both tied up and unable to do anything. The song they heard was the most enchanting sound they had ever heard. They still managed to remain conscious enough to be aware the boat was coming towards their way. Rey’s stratagem was working.

When the ship was close enough, Rey quickly swam back and crawled on the sand towards Finn and Poe, untying their bounds. But she didn’t notice Poe had suddenly become pensive.

“Hey, I know that ship. It’s the  _ Millennium Falcon _ .”

“Wait, _the_ _Millennium Falcon_?” asked Finn. “As in Captain Han Solo?”

“The one and only,” replied Poe. “I know that ship almost by heart. Well, only the captain truly does, but I’ve been on it for most of my childhood when my parents died.”

They both saw Rey’s smile instantly drop, and looked at her in concern. Finally, she shrugged and finished untying them.

“I have to hurry,” she whispered to them. “I must leave before they see me. It should be easy from here. If they ask you about a Siren, pretend you were victims as well,” she added, smiling in amusement.

“Hey hey, what do you think you’re doing, little lady?”

All three turned in shock in direction of the gruff voice.

“Captain Solo?” Poe finally managed to mutter. He could hear Rey holding her breath, as they all watched as Han Solo came down a rope and paddled in the water towards them. He eyed Rey up and down, seemingly unimpressed by the sight of a mermaid.

“So you’re responsible for me changing course?” he grumbled. “Well, I guess I won’t get too angry since I can see two kids here needing rescuing. You really can’t manage on your own, heh? Come on. Get up. I guess you’ll want to go back to the Illenium peninsula, right?”

“Yes,” Poe replied. “We need to confuse our tracks for the First Order. The last part of the map to Luke Skywalker isn’t on Jakku anymore. It’s in Takodana.”

“Oh, great,” Han replied. “Talk about a crazy chicken hunt - some say the last part is here, but no! Now it’s there! Well, sure looks like it’s not gonna end anytime soon. Now get up and let’s go. I’m not staying here forever.”

As Finn and Poe got on their feet, Han turned towards Rey. “Now, you listen, this is the last time you’re making this happen to me,” he said, gesturing an angry finger to her. “Understood? I’d appreciate if you told that to your underwater friends too. This is the first and the last time this is happening to me.”

Han turned towards Finn and Poe. “Don’t even understand why I’m not just leaving you two here,” he continued. “Leia doesn’t even want to see me.”

“Well, she might be thankful to see her favorite Resistance crew member is still alive,” said Poe as an attempt to lighten up the mood.

Han rolled his eyes. “I guess. Let’s just hope she doesn’t rip my head off for some reason. I don’t know what gets into her sometimes. Not my fault if she can’t appreciate my sense of humor sometimes.” He chuckled at his own joke, before turning away towards the  _ Falcon _ . Finn and Poe waved goodbye to Rey, who attempted to smile. It was hard, however. She rather enjoyed their company for the short time they were with her.

And now, they were going to leave as well.

Han saw her poor attempt at looking cheery. He smiled kindly, and Rey couldn’t help but look back at him in amazement. She remembered Ben had the exact same smile.

“Take care of yourself, kid,” Han simply said, before heading back towards the Falcon.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The author wants to be forgiven for this chapter.

Mitaka was considering deserting just like Finn.

His father had been a highly-ranked officer during the Empire’s times. He had hoped, by joining the First Order, to follow his steps, but instead he has been the crew’s whipping boy ever since.

Of course, he had been designated to break the news to  _ Kylo Ren himself _ .

Well, Mitaka had to admit that everyone in the crew was scared to death of Kylo Ren. The Knights of Ren had started as a rumor among the ranks, until finally, they became known to everyone in the First Order. Mitaka had even heard of an officer who had asked Admiral Hux if a certain Sea Witch was behind the First Order. One would have expected Hux to merely sneer and call the officer an idiot, but instead he had contented himself by eyeing him up and down and quickly turning away and leaving.

Most interpreted this answer as an unsaid  _ yes _ .

Well, with the Knights of Ren’s hellish appearance, such things could be easily believed.

He didn’t need this. He remembered all too clearly Ren’s expression when the old man from Jakku had told him: “You cannot deny the truth that is your family.” Kylo Ren would definitely be in a foul mood. It didn’t help that while he did know both the prisoner and Lor San Tekka weren’t in possession of the fragment of a map of sorts leading to Luke Skywalker, he would have to go and search elsewhere. And, with Tekka dead, the Resistance pirate was their only hope. Learning that said prisoner had escaped with a deserting Stormtrooper would certainly not help the matters.

“Sir,” Mitaka asked in a firmer voice than he thought he would be capable of. Kylo Ren had his back facing him. Mitaka was somehow thankful for that. Still, the worst was to come.

“A Stormtrooper has deserted, sir.”

With his back still turned, Ren lifted up a dismissive hand in the air and chuckled. “And how is that my business? Admiral Hux knows very well what I think of the Stormtrooper program. I’ll be pleased to announce him the news myself, then.”

“Sir… the Stormtrooper has escaped with the prisoner.”

Mitaka had said his last sentence very quickly, but Ren had still managed to catch the essential words. He heard thunder rumbling towards their way, as he saw Kylo Ren’s fists clench. So it was true. He could summon storms with his only will… or when he was furious. Well, to be honest, Mitaka preferred facing a storm than being at the other hand of Ren’s wrath…

“Anything else?” The tone was almost too light-hearted (well, as light-hearted as Kylo Ren could be) for such a situation.

“Well… might not be of interest for you, sir, b-but some eyewitness m-managed to see from afar that it- it- it looked like a girl, or r-r-rather a mermaid, and sh-she was helping them. Of course, that has to be taken with a grain of salt, because-”

Mitaka was suddenly interrupted by the feeling of an invisible hand grabbing his throat as he was dragged forward to come face to face with Ren’s monstrous face. What was probably the worst about it was how very human the facial expressions managed to be. There wasn’t just anger, but there was also some sort of… strange flicker of hope. It provided such a contrast Mitaka couldn’t help but find it somehow disturbing. Perhaps there was truly a thin line between madness and hope.

_ “What. Girl?” _

 

* * *

Ben couldn’t be far away.

Of course, perhaps his ship wouldn’t be the only First Order ship navigating in this area. Perhaps there would be others. Well, the Jakku Rim and the volcanic island of the same name weren’t very busy places when it came to navigating. The shipwrecks Rey had to scavenge in all came from the time in which the Rebellion and the Empire were at war. Now, frightened by the ghosts of the past, pirates always avoided the Jakku Rim.

Well, that was one thing Beebee-Ate was glad of.

As always, the little clown fish followed her wherever she went. And he certainly didn’t approve of her tracking down a First Order ship.

“Oh, shush, Beebee-Ate. You had a good excuse for being so worrisome when I was little. I can defend myself now. Anyway, it’s night. Everyone will be asleep. But I know Ben doesn’t sleep much.”

If Beebee-Ate could skeptically lift an eyebrow up, he would have certainly done so at that moment. Instead, he simply did what he usually did when he gave up: he huffed, letting a few dozen of little bubbles coming out of his mouth.

Finally, she saw the hull of a ship just above her.

“I’ll go and see,” she told Beebee-Ate. As he attempted to block her way, she crossed her arms. “You don’t have to follow me. Stay here if you want.”

The clown fish let out what could almost be interpreted as a “Humph!” and swam away. Rey shrugged and went to the surface. Immediately, she spotted the First Order flags flying. She beamed. “Found you,” she muttered.

Now, she needed to find a way to see him.

He couldn’t have changed that much. Well, he would certainly remember her. She  _ had _ saved his life, after all. He’d probably get all grumpy when she’d mention that to him. He was probably still a stupid boy. Boys his age were actually still stupid. Well, perhaps Earthbound and mermen were different, but Rey didn’t quite believe it was true.

Everything would go well for her if she met him, despite everything Poe had implied. She missed him. So much. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t missed her as well.

Finally, she saw a silhouette lean over the deck’s balustrade. One hand held a lantern, which was held at the level of the silhouette’s face.

Rey saw it all. The skin like dead coral. The webbed hands with claws instead of fingernails. She couldn’t see his eyes very well, but there was an inhumane glint to them. He looked like those sea monsters she had heard about in scary stories when she was younger.

It was unmistakably Ben.

His serious expression which could have been perceived as haughty whenever his chin wasn’t lowered, his big ears he more or less successfully tried to hide with his long hair, the aquiline nose, all of them were far too recognizable to deny it.

For minutes that seemed like hours, Rey debated between calling out to Ben or just plunging back down to Beebee-Ate, back to Unkar Plutt and her scavenging job, and never ever going back to the surface again.

Finally, in the end, she looked up again and remained fixed on contemplating Ben’s face, or more particularly, his eyes, which she was drawn to. She saw the same lost boy expression she remembered seeing so many years ago, when she had saved him from that shipwreck. But now, however, it was ten times more desperate.

She tried calling out to Ben, but every word stayed stuck in her throat, as if she couldn’t speak anymore.

She took a few deep breaths. She needed to calm down.

She could sing…

She could sing quite well, now that she had become a Siren. Of course, she knew how to enchant a being to her will with her voice, but she also knew how to comfort.

She truly remembered only one thing from her mother. It was a lullaby she had heard other mermaids sing, but it was never as sweet as when her mother sang it.

It was a lullaby about Amidala’s Star, and how that star always symbolized hope for all sailors, since it was the one which shone the brightest in the night and pointed towards the North. Rey loved Padmé Amidala’s story. When the pirate queen died, the goddesses Calypso and Estella had found her soul so beautiful they turned her into a star, making her immortal.

Rey thought she’d like to be a star when she’d die, instead of turning into foam like all Sea People always did.

In the meantime, she saw Ben put his lantern down, only letting the moon light his face. Rey was still able to distinguish the half-smile of awe that appeared on his features. He almost seemed… happy.

When the lullaby was over, an almost religious silence installed itself. The only sound Rey and Ben could hear was the ship’s wood creaking and the waves crashing.

Finally, Rey heard Ben muttering: “Rey?”

Immediately, she gasped and dove back into the sea, to be quickly welcomed by a very worried Beebee-Ate.

She was an idiot.

For a moment, she wanted to go back up, call out to Ben, tell him that she was there, that she missed him, that everything would be fine, that she would save him…

For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

She went back towards her home.

She was  _ stupid _ .

She was  _ even more stupid than Ben _ .

She couldn’t keep her eyes from drying up as bitter tears came over her. All that Beebee-Ate could do, while she hid her face in her hands, was to swim around her in worry and eventually stick himself on her cheek as an unsuccessful attempt to grant her some comfort.

 

* * *

Beebee-Ate was certainly not going to be happy about this.

Well, he wasn’t usually happy about what she did most of the time. But she was now truly pushing his limits.

She had always been quite curious. And perhaps, once again, it was nothing more than a story, but at this point, Rey had nothing to lose.

She had spent so many sleepless hours, tossing and turning in her makeshift bed, trying to find a way to save Ben. It preoccupied her constantly.

Her being a Siren did help her against Unkar Plutt, in her case. No doubt that with anyone else, he wouldn’t have been afraid to treat them harshly: but since her nineteenth birthday and the reveal that her special gift would be to be a Siren, the highest gift any mermaid could wish for, everyone, including Unkar Plutt, had decided it would be better not to mess with her. It was rather practical: whenever she brought back from her hunting something she knew Unkar Plutt didn’t exchange for enough portions, she simply needed to speak a bit louder for him to start mysteriously shaking a bit and give her the portions her scavenged items were truly worth.

Well, in a merciless world like the Jakku Rim, one had to fight tooth and claw to survive.

As much as eating and surviving had been Rey’s priorities in the last few years, Ben had now taken their place.

One night, she remembered another story she had recently heard.

Apparently, a Sea Witch had established herself near the Jakku Rim, or, more precisely, in the so-dreaded Calypso Pit. It was already quite telling of her; anyone who would have dared making their home there would have certainly have provoked the sea goddess’ wrath.

Not many had seen her. They said she was one of the Ancients, and that she was so old that she had been alive and even fighting during the Great Wars with Revan and Malak.

And most importantly, she had great power.

Rey knew that she was perhaps her only chance.

That day, as she got out of her home with Beebee-Ate eagerly following her as usual, she knew what she had to do.

“Don’t follow me, Beebee-Ate,” she said, more harshly than she wished she would have. “Go away. I need to be alone.”

The clown fish’s hurt expression was utterly heartbreaking for Rey. For a moment, she considered abandoning everything and praying to Calypso that Ben would one day find happiness again without her help. Beebee-Ate had been her only family since she had arrived in the Jakku Rim.

But she would come back, after all of this was be over.

She really would. 

She forced herself to turn away.

She heard Beebee-Ate following her from afar, protesting. When she finally arrived near Calypso’s Pit, the poor little clown fish finally understood what was going to happen.

Rey heard him bubbling in despair.

Holding back a sob, she forced herself to enter the depths of the pit, straight towards the Sea Witch’s home. 

This time, Beebee-Ate stopped following her.

She was alone.

***

The sea became dark and cold as Rey went down. She hugged herself in order to somehow stay warm, without success. She squinted in the darkness, trying to distinguish some shapes, worried to bump into something that could possibly be the end of her.

She didn’t want to die.

Not in the dark, nor the cold. Not before she had a chance to save Ben.

_ Not alone.  _

_ Not like this. _

She was going to cry again. She couldn’t. She had to keep on going.

Suddenly, she saw a light illuminating the place. Then another. And another. And another.

The fish from which the light was emitting were quite hideous. But their light was so reassuring, so  _ present _ , Rey simply didn’t mind at all. They gathered around her, pointing towards the entrance of a cave where she saw many fluorescent plants glowing, with such phantasmagorical shapes Rey couldn’t help but be fascinated.

_ If this is the Underworld, then it’s beautiful. _

“I’m glad to see you like my modest garden, little star.”

Rey quickly turned around, trying to find whoever had spoken which such a melodious voice. From the cave, she saw a figure come out.

It was the Sea Witch. The stories were right to say that she was very old. Her octopus-like lower body reminded Rey rather uncomfortably of Unkar Plutt, but she swallowed her burgeoning distrust and attempted to smile politely.

“You are quite brave to have come this far,” continued the Sea Witch. “Not many people come and visit me. I’m not even sure people remember my true name! Oh, Calypso had truly given me such a beautiful name. She punished me, and I lost it. Now all I can do is try to redeem myself.”

For a moment, the Sea Witch seemed caught in an infinite melancholy, as if she was seeing her younger years play in her mind. She came back to her senses and chuckled.

“I do have a sense of humor, though. I needed a name, so I called myself Snoke. Lovely name, isn’t it? And you?” she added before Rey could say a word. “What is your name, little star?”

“Rey.”

“Rey. Lovely name. I was right to call you little star, wasn’t I? And a Siren as well. No wonder you were brave enough to come and pay me a visit. But you must have come with a request. What is it?”

Rey suddenly found herself at a loss for words. How on Earth would she explain all this?

“I… have a friend. He’s…” Oh, she would get in so big trouble for admitting she was friends with an Earthbound. “He’s an Earthbound,” she finally spat out. “And… he needs my help. He has been… cursed, I think. He doesn’t look like a human.”

Snoke had become pensive while Rey was speaking. “What’s your lover’s name?”

Rey became as red as sea whip. “Ben is  _ not _ my lover!” she said quickly.

“Oh, don’t tell me a pretty little Siren like you doesn’t have a lover,” Snoke replied, laughing. “I’ll believe you on this, though…”

For a moment, Snoke remained silent. Then she lifted her head up, meeting Rey’s gaze, smiling in a way that could almost be thought as reassuring. “It sounds like… quite a tragic story, isn’t it? This, Ben, friend of yours looks like he’s signed a pact with some devil. I’ve heard of him and his group, little star – they call themselves the Knights of Ren, don’t they? Selling their souls for invincibility and immortal life… ah, but they don’t know what’s awaiting them, do they! If only someone loved them enough to save them.”

“And me? What about me? I want to save Ben!” Rey protested.

“Goodness gracious me, you are a feisty little one! Such a mission does require someone with no fear in their heart…”

“I’m not afraid. I will do what it takes.”

“Will you? Well, I believe you, little star. I don’t expect less from a Siren such as you. But don’t you have a mother and a father waiting for you?”

Rey bit her lip. “My parents… they’re gone. I’m… waiting for them.” It was silly to think so. They hadn’t left her anywhere near the Jakku Rim the first time since she was taken away from her first home. They were probably looking for her at this point, and they were probably worried sick…

Of course, they were still looking for her. Why wouldn’t they? 

Snoke stared at Rey for a long time, then sighed. “I couldn’t help just anyone with such a task… especially when it comes with such a high prize.”

Rey’s eyes flickered in anticipation, but she remained calm. She had to prove to Snoke that she was worthy. Otherwise, there would be no hope for Ben.

“What must I do?” she asked quietly.

Snoke became almost solemn. “I will grant you a pair of legs, just like an Earthbound has. It will bring you to that dear boy of yours. Perhaps you will find your parents as well. You never know where they might be…”

Rey’s head shot up in curiosity. Snoke chuckled. “I know many things, little star. Believe me, at the end of your mission, many of your questions shall be answered… but it won’t be easy.”

“So?” Rey was growing impatient. “Tell me what I must do!”

“Why, aren’t you a plucky girl! Tss, tss… Well, of course, becoming an Earthbound has its consequences. You will lose all of your power for the duration of your mission. A shame, really, such a powerful Siren as you… The magic comes with a price, of course. Each step will be like walking on a razor blade for you. Oh, of course! You don’t know what a razor blade is, silly me!” Snoke laughed at her own joke. “Well, let’s just say… it’s not very pleasant. And of course… there’s a price… I can’t do anything for free, most unfortunately.”

At this point, Rey was feeling quite sick. But she gathered all her courage. “And… that would be?”

“Your voice.”

She gasped. “My… my voice? But what for? How will I get to speak to him? How will I get to convince him to come with me?”

Snoke shrugged and winked at her. “Little star, you underestimate the power of body language. You’re a pretty girl. You’ll find a way. Now…” The Sea Witch grabbed a parchment from behind her back, and Rey couldn’t help but have a suspicion that it was all premeditated, way before she had arrived in Calypso’s Pit. 

Snoke outstretched her hand until a quill of some sort reached it, and she seemingly scribbled a few things, before handing both sheet and quill to Rey.

“So? Is it a deal?”

Rey swallowed.

Was it really all worth it? All the suffering that would follow and the cut from what was truly her identity?

She had to save Ben. She had to. If she didn’t, she would regret it for the rest of her three hundred years of life.

She perused her lips, grabbed the quill, and her trembling hand signed her name.

Snoke clapped her hands together. “Wonderful! Truly wonderful! Now, don’t move, little star, give me just a few seconds…” Rey saw Snoke go back into her cave, before coming back almost too quickly with a small purple flask.

“It’s quite simple, little star. All you have to do is take a sip, and sing, and the magic will do all the rest for you.” She handed the flask to Rey, who took it with hesitation. Snoke clicked her tongue. “What? Discouraged so quickly? I’m disappointed. Very disappointed...” She slowly came towards Rey, staring her down so intently the Siren couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. While Snoke was definitely too close for comfort, she bit back her fear and focused on the task at hand.

“No, I’m not,” Rey quickly muttered. “I’m… I’m fine.”

“Good. Then  _ do it _ .” Snoke’s voice became far too authoritative, bordering even on the cruel, comparing to the sing-song tone she had used before. But Rey was too caught up in the haze of the moment to care. Without further hesitation, she swallowed the flask’s entire content, and started singing.

For some reason, the first thing that came to her mind was Amidala’s Lullaby.

As she was pushed towards the sea’s surface, while travelling through the Galactic Sea at an incredible speed straight towards the Illenium peninsula, she didn’t have the opportunity to see Snoke’s wicked smile at the irony of choice in that swan song. Rey was too overwhelmed by the pain, as she felt it through her soul, and through her tail, as if was torn in two. As if part of her was ripped away from her. Soon, she felt her voice somehow running away from her, and the feeling was so horrible she tried to scream, but found herself unable to. All she could do was cry…

Her eyes weren’t dry anymore. They were wet.

As Rey was propelled out of the water, on the shores of Illenium, she felt a tear go down her cheek for the first time in her life.

Her beautiful golden tail was gone, replaced by two pinkish appendices the Earthbound called legs.

She had to get up, like the Earthbound did, because she was an Earthbound, now. Calypso would be so furious at her. Well, Calypso should be furious at Snoke as well, for daring to live in her pit…But Rey had made a deal with Snoke, and she, a Siren, had betrayed her identity. Calypso probably cursed her at this time.

In the meantime, she had still managed to get on her knees, and, despite the lack of habit, she also got on her feet.

She took her first steps, and screamed in pain.

_ That’s how razor blades feel like when you step on them, I guess. _

She attempted taking another step. Then she took another. And another. And another.

And then, she collapsed on to the ground in agony.

She wanted to go home.

She wanted her parents to find her, take her in their arms, and take her home.

She wanted Ben to find her, take her in his arms, and take her home.

She wasn’t sure at the moment which one she preferred.

She closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

A few hours later, when she was awakened by voices nearby, she finally opened her eyes to see no other than Finn and Poe’s confused faces looking down at her.

“Rey? Is that you?” Finn shook his head in disbelief. “What in the Underworld are you doing here – like this?”

Rey tried to speak. But not a sound left her throat. 


	6. Chapter 6

Rey paid little attention to everyone gathering around them in curiosity. Finn had covered her with what looked like an old sail (her naked body was the reason of their initial unease. Rey didn’t quite understand why. Were her legs so ugly to look at?), and Poe was now carrying her in his arms while warning everyone: “Castaway coming through!” She was quite thankful neither men seemed to want to betray her secret, and Poe’s cheery disposition somehow managed to make her even more reassured.

It permitted her to look around her in curiosity and wonder. She had heard many stories about the Earthbound’s civilisation; while the shapes of their homes’ weren’t curvy enough for her tastes, she definitely preferred their brown shades to the grey she was used too.

And there was green. A lot of green. She loved that color. She had seen trees before, but she had never seen trees as lush as the ones she could see growing on the island.

They had arrived in front of a nondescript small house; the only thing distinguishing it from its neighbors was that it seemed a bit isolated. Finn, without hesitation, knocked on the door. A woman in her fifties, who still seemed very astute despite a present melancholy in her eyes, opened the door. For a split second, she smiled at the sight of Finn and Poe, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her attention was quickly turned to Rey, as she frowned with concern.

“We’re so sorry to bother you with this, Captain Organa,” said Poe, “but we just found this castaway on the beach. She might need medical attention, didn’t she? I could fetch Doctor Kalonia, and I was thinking that perhaps your home would be the best place for her to rest? Of course, I don’t want to intrude, and…”

“No, no, please, Poe, don’t worry. There won’t be anyone bothering her here. Bring her to my room.”

Rey was only barely paying attention to the conversation. _Organa. She’s Ben’s mother._ She was unable to take her eyes away from Captain Organa. She eventually noticed Rey staring, but made no comment about it.

“What’s your name, child?” Captain Organa asked softly. Rey bit her lips and looked down.

“She can’t speak, captain,” Finn replied. “She’s mute.”

“Oh. Well, we must do our best to bring her back home. She must have family looking for her.”

Rey shook her head.

“No one? Well, in that case, you are welcome to stay here. Perhaps you’ll find yourself an occupation. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day went by rather peacefully. Rey was still frightened at the idea that she’d have to walk again. She spent a good part of the afternoon and evening asleep. Doctor Kalonia had come to Captain Organa’s home, and said she had no injuries, but that she was still shaken and mostly only needed rest. Rey obeyed. After all, the doctor wasn’t wrong at least on that point.

Captain Organa had come during the evening with food she called broth, which consisted in a strange liquid with hard parts. Rey, however, didn’t care, since with the warm mixture’s smell, she had quickly realized that she was starving.  

“Goodness, you sure are hungry,” Leia chuckled. “Your table manners are a mess!”

Rey, of course, had heard no such thing as “table manners” before, had glanced at Leia rather quizzically. The older woman had only smiled and patted Rey’s shoulder in a way that could almost be seen as motherly. That simple gesture made Rey have trouble finishing her meal. Leia noticed her bewilderment, and simply attributed to the fact the poor girl was probably still in shock.

That night, unlike earlier, Rey found herself unable to sleep.

She finally heard some voices coming from a room near hers. She could recognize Captain Organa’s, and the other sounded definitely familiar.

Curious as always, Rey paid close attention. She quickly recognized the other person. It was Han Solo.

“I just wish Luke was here, right now,” she heard Leia say. “I know Poe will be willing to take the risk, but I can’t send him to Takodana. Not after the First Order catching him once.”

“Why don’t you send a bigger crew with them?” Han replied. “He’s your best sailor, and if they’re enough men and women with him, he’ll manage.”

“That’s not the point, Han. Didn’t you hear about the _Starkiller_?”

A heavy silence settled itself. “I did,” Han said. “That sure is a mighty ship… destroying almost everything on the Hosnian islands and taking over like they did… I heard they left no one alive.”

“I know. And of course, there will still be no one in the New Republic that will want to listen to me!” Leia sighed in frustration, and another silence followed. Rey was just about to scold herself for listening to a private conversation before hearing Leia say: “Do… Do you know if our son was there?”

Rey held her breath. _Ben…_

“I don’t think he was. They said there that only Admiral Hux was there. Believe me, Leia, if our son was there, he wouldn’t have gone unnoticed.”

Leia sighed. “I hope you’re right. Well, one thing’s for sure, first thing I’m going to ask Luke when I’ll see him again is what the hell happened. I-”

“Leia, please, don’t torture yourself too much about this-”

“How can you say that? Don’t you care?”

“I do! Don’t ever question me on that matter! But the kid… he’s always been strange.” Han chuckled. “Bah, what do I know? I’m no magician like you Jedi.”

“I thought for a few years I could help him. But that Sea Witch was stronger than I.”

“What, you believe these rumors? Leia, please. Don’t tell me you’re imagining our son...”

“I’m not imagining things! You know me!”

“Then why are you so sure?”

Leia sighed. “Because I made a mistake, here. I… I never bothered to tell you Ben was hearing a Voice coming from the sea since he was very young.”

“Don’t you hear the Sea People’s voices all the time?”

“We do. But the Voice he heard was different. Luke made some searches on his side before I sent Ben to him. Lor San Tekka helped.”

“Why didn’t you tell me anything? Leia…” Rey was certain she heard Han Solo’s voice break.

“I thought you might not understand. You’ve always been so skeptical about the Force and the gods…”

“Well, then. Look at us now.” Another silence settled between the two of them. Rey was just about to go back to sleep when she heard Han speak again. “Poe, when he was a prisoner… he saw our son.”

“And you didn’t tell me. That’s ironic.”

“Well, no more secrets between the two of us, hey?” Both of them laughed sadly. “Well,” Han continued, “for a start, I could go to Takodana. I’ll grab the rest of the map to Luke. It’s well-known that I’m not involved in your activities since I officially decided to stay neutral.”

“I’m still mad at you for doing that, you know.”

“I know. I… I didn’t want to have to face my son. I don’t have your stomach of steel.”

“Han, please…” Leia started.

“Nah, let’s just get to the point. I’ll go to Takodana with Chewie and get the map to Luke from whoever has it. I do miss that kid, after all.”

“I know you do, but it won’t be that easy. I really hope it’s a coincidence, but I have spies telling me the Starkiller is going towards Takodana. And Ben is on board.”

Han hesitated before replying. “Well, you know what I always said? Never tell me the odds. I’ll leave at sunrise tomorrow.”

“Retrieving the map to Luke won’t be the only thing you’ll have to do, Han. Finn will go with you. He’s been on the Starkiller before. He’ll disable the cannons and give us an opportunity to destroy it for good.”

“Sounds easy. And I like that Finn guy. But, if Ben is on board--”

“He and the higher graded sailors will find a way to escape, believe me. But if you do see him...” Leia sighed. “Bring him home.”

“How?”

“You’re his father. You’ll know.”

 

* * *

 

 

Rey just had a few hours to get ready to execute her plan.

It was going to be rather easy. She’d get out of bed very early in the morning, put on the clothes Captain Organa left for her, which were conveniently waiting for her on a chair near her bed, sneak towards the  _ Millennium Falcon _ , find some place to hide on board, and once she arrived on Takodana, she’d just have to get out of the ship unseen and try to reach the Starkiller. Everything should be easy…

Well, the walking part sure wouldn’t be.

The moon and the stars were still shining when she got up, and she had to hold back from whimpering as her feet touched the ground so she wouldn’t wake up anyone in the house.

For the rest of her painful journey to the  _ Falcon _ , Rey was forced to swallow back her tears. She couldn’t give up, not now, not when she was so close…

As she entered the ship, she could hear a very loud snore coming from some part of it. For a moment, she panicked, but quickly remembered it was probably Han Solo’s first mate Chewbacca. His mere presence was enough to discourage anyone from stealing the ship, but he slept so soundly he wouldn’t have heard Rey going around the  _ Falcon _ .

She soon found a hiding place in the ship’s hold. There, she fell on the ground, exhausted by her effort.

_ Well, I think I’m getting used to it. It won’t be so hard afterwards. _

She laid her head against the wooden wall behind her and closed her eyes, falling in a dreamless sleep.

She didn’t know for how long she remained that way, before she was awaken by a gruff and angry voice.

“Well, well, what in the Underworld do we have here?”

Rey’s eyes shot wide open, and the first thing she saw in front of her was a very annoyed Han Solo, a surprised Finn, and a seemingly unfazed Chewbacca.

“Didn’t Captain Organa tell you about her?” Finn stammered. “I mean--” 

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘tell me about her’?” asked Han, turning slowly towards Finn.

“Me and Poe found her on the beach like this and--”

“Yeah, but I want to know what the hell a Siren with legs is doing on my ship.”

“But, we didn’t tell Captain Organa she was actually a mermaid and--”

“What!?”

 

* * *

 

Han didn’t throw her overboard.

He wasn’t exactly pleased, however.

He kept a sharp eye on her, and merely rolled his eyes when he attempted to ask her a few questions and Finn told him that she was mute. Chewbacca, on the other hand, kept on chatting with her in French, thinking she wouldn’t understand all the jokes he made about Han while he glared at him, while Rey actually understood every word of it. Finn was also very considerate around her, smiling at her, explaining a few navigation tricks to her.

It pained her that she’d have to leave them immediately after they arrived on Takodana. They certainly wouldn’t approve of her mission.

Her feet were also doing rather well, considering the circumstances. She had gotten used to the pain, in a way.

Once they arrived on Takodana and had gotten off the Falcon, the moment Han, Finn and Chewie weren’t paying attention to her anymore, she immediately ran away, trying to get lost in the crowd.

Finn was the first one to notice her disappearance.

“Hey! Captain Solo! Rey’s gone! We have to go after her!”

Han merely shrugged. “Let her be. I wouldn’t follow her if I were you.”

“But…”

“No,” Han replied firmly. “Anyway, I have a bad feeling about this.”

In the meantime, as Rey was walking around the town in plain daylight, without anyone near her, she could see all the Earthbound activity freely. She glanced at the different shops in amazement, as they displayed various accessories she remembered seeing in ship wreckages, and even some she had never seen in her entire life. 

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by someone tugging on her sleeve. She looked around, to see a small boy looking at her.

“I’m sorry, miss,” he started, “You see the beach near the docks? Go west, and you’ll see a stream going through the forest at some point. Follow it until you arrive in Maz’s Mangrove.”

Rey wanted to ask what a mangrove looked like, but of course, she couldn’t. “Don’t worry,” the boy replied, as if he had just read in her thoughts. “You’ll know when you’ll arrive there.” And, before Rey could hold him back, the boy ran away, as quickly as he had come, and somehow vanished in the crowd.

 

* * *

 

When Rey entered the forest, it was at that moment that she truly believed she had entered an Earthbound’s paradise.

She could hear the birds sing clearly now. It was a pure enchantment. She saw plants so colorful and big, she could only assume they were probably what the Earthbound called flowers. But what impressed her the most were the trees; Rey glanced up in amazement as she saw their branches dance slowly in the wind. She couldn’t look for very long, since the sun was shining brightly through the branches and was blinding her.

As she followed the stream, she was so amazed by everything surrounding her she almost forgot the pain she felt at each step she took.

She finally arrived at a spot where the stream widened, turning into a pond. She saw trees growing out of the water, their roots even popping out of the surface.  _ So this must be a mangrove, _ Rey thought. She glanced at the pond and sighed in disappointment as she saw it wasn’t really deep. It was a shame. If there was enough food here, she would have loved to live here.

“I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while, now,” said a voice near Rey. “You sure took your time!”

Surprised, Rey turned towards where the voice came from to see a petite dark-skinned woman standing just beside her. She glanced around, surprised that she had managed to sneak up on her without making a single noise. The woman rolled her eyes and shook her head, making the seashells beaded in her hair clink together.

“No need to make any introductions,” she continued with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I’m Maz Kanata, and you’re Rey. I’m this mangrove’s Guardian, and you’re a mute Siren with legs. I know who you are, and I know what you’re looking for. You did a good job at setting your priorities straight until now, though. But, I think there’s one thing you need to know. Sit down with me.”

Rey was too taken aback to frown and express any kind of question, so she obeyed Maz’s command and sat on the ground with her.

“Take my hand,” said Maz. “Close your eyes. You’ll see a vision of your past.”

Rey’s heart skipped a beat, as she immediately understood what she was about to see.

_ Your mother came from illustrious parents. One was a Jedi pirate going by the name of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the other was a former Mandalorian called Satine Kryze who joined Queen Amidala’s crew. _

_ They became lovers not long before Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. When Queen Amidala died due to complications; Obi-Wan brought Luke Skywalker to Tatooine to his uncle and aunt, and Satine was put in charge of bringing Leia to Alderaan to Queen Breha and Viceroy Bail Organa, since they had always been friends with the Jedi Order and the Old Pirate Republic. _

_ What they didn’t know, at that moment, was that Satine was with child. And that child was your mother. _

_ Satine didn’t stay on Alderaan for very long. She tried with her then three-year-old daughter to reach Obi-Wan on Tatooine, but her ship was attacked by a crew of rogue pirates. She died, but the captain of the crew took pity on the child and raised her as his own. _

_ Many years later, she met your father. He was a merman. Obviously, they wouldn’t be able to be together, and so they made a deal with the Sea Witch. _

_ Don’t panic just yet, child, listen to me until the end, already! _

_ The Sea Witch granted your mother a tail, and she left her family behind and followed your father in the depths of the sea. But when you sign a deal with the Sea Witch, you are bound to her forever. And your parents being free-spirited, refused. And so the Sea Witch killed them. _

Rey opened her eyes, letting the tears fall freely on her cheeks. She lifted her eyes towards Maz.

She didn’t understand. There was only one thing she truly remembered from her parents. When they had left her alone, they had told her, “We’ll be back, sweetheart!” It was to that hope she had clung her entire life. And now, they were dead… and she was still alive.

Maz took Rey’s hand gently. “Your parents wanted to give you your best chance and left you behind. I must say that before Snoke got you moved to the Jakku Rim, you were in a rather nice place. But now, you know. You needed to. That bloody Sea Witch would have probably tried to manipulate you eventually with your parents, if she didn’t already.” She chuckled. “I must say, young lady, it is quite a miracle you actually made it to me! Mustn’t been easy,” she added, pointing to Rey’s feet. “I wish I could relieve you somehow, but I’m not nearly powerful enough.”

As she saw tears still falling on Rey’s cheeks, she smiled kindly. “Don’t think you’re alone and that no one will come for you. Know that the belonging you seek is not behind, but ahead.”

Rey’s eyes lit up as she understood the meaning of Maz’s words.  _ Ben _ . And, as if she had read in her thoughts, Maz’s smile only grew wider.

“You understand what you must do, now. You’ll manage, child. You always did. But he always needs saving, doesn’t he? Those Skywalkers. They always need a Kenobi to grab them and knock sense in their heads.”

Rey, through her tears, couldn’t help but smile. That was Ben all right.

“Well, you haven’t had an exactly exemplary time either, from the Sea folk’s point of view. You’re probably fearing the wrath of the gods, right now, and Calypso’s in particular, aren’t you? Oh, believe me. She isn’t mad at you."

Rey’s head shot up in surprise, unsure how to react to Maz Kanata saying such a sacrilege, or, perhaps… 

Impossible. Here, in a mangrove, so far from the sea? 

Maz Kanata winked at Rey, and, with that sign, she knew it would remain ambiguous. 

“Before you leave, I must give you something,” added Maz. “I managed to get my hands on this,” she said. In front of Rey’s amazed eyes, she handed to her a lightsaber. “It was Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber, which later on belonged to Luke. Don’t ask me how I got it, I have my ways. It should go to the boy, now. But he isn’t worthy of it yet. Give it to him when he is.”

Rey gave Maz a puzzled look, but the mangrove’s guardian just smiled and forced the lightsaber back into Rey’s hands. “Now go,” she said. “I sense you’ll find an outcome to all this very soon. Go to that boy of yours, and don’t let that damned Sea Witch get to you.”

 

* * *

When Rey came out of the mangrove and followed the stream back to the town, she felt somehow different. Her feet still hurt as much, but there was a feeling within her she couldn’t quite place but felt close to confidence. If she had been able to hum, she probably would have done so.

She hadn’t gone too far when she suddenly heard branches crack loudly and even footsteps close by. She stopped and looked around her, trying to see who it was. There was no one in sight. She took a deep breath.  _ You’re imagining things. You’re nervous, and you’re more jumpy than usual. It’s going to be alright. Keep on going. _

She heard cracking again. She knew this time she wasn’t dreaming.

As her only weapon was the lightsaber, she got it out of the bag Maz had given her and lit it up, its blue light emitting a reassuring glow. Rey looked at the deadly weapon in fascination, before being pulled out of her contemplation by the rustle of leaves behind her. She quickly turned around.

Ben – or rather, Kylo Ren – was standing right behind her.

She could see his monstrosity in plain light now. She gasped in fright and brandished the lightsaber in front of her, causing Kylo Ren to gasp in surprise and take a few steps back.

He was glaring at Rey, eyeing her up and down, while she remained frozen, the lightsaber still firmly held out in front of her.

“Rey?” he asked in disbelief.

His voice had changed. She remembered, last time they had met on Lothal, how uneven his voice could be, as it straddled the line between child and adult. It was so awkward that Rey often teased him mercilessly about it. Now, it was a man’s voice, but the inflections were still the same. She attempted to smile, as she tried looking at Ben – Kylo, whatever his name was – in the face, only to meet eyes that weren’t even human anymore.

“What--who are you? Who is that girl who came on the Starkiller a few days ago and is pretending to be  _ you _ ?” 

Rey barely had time to digest the news that, with a simple hand gesture from Kylo Ren, everything went black around her. And, before her limp form touched the ground, he caught her body, cradling it against him, and headed straight towards the _Starkiller_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the babes are back together... but what will happen next? *cackles*


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand the moment you were all waiting for.

When Rey awoke, she opened her eyes to a softly lit room.  

As she adjusted to her surroundings, she saw several oil lamps around her, while she was half laying down on some wooden plank. Near her hands and her feet, she was able to see shackles, but she was unbound.

She glanced in front of her, and saw Kylo Ren watching her, while he was crouching on the ground. She was able to see the lightsaber Maz had given her in one of his hands. Rey remembered her words about him not being worthy of it yet, and her first impulse was to get up and try to reach for it. But Kylo Ren was quicker than she was, and he immediately got to his feet and held the saber high in the air.

“Sorry,” he said with an infuriating smirk. “That lightsaber belongs to me.”

_ Well, he hasn’t changed that much. He’s as annoying as before. And goodness - why is he so tall? _

“Now that you’re awake,” he continued, “I think you owe me an explanation.”

She certainly did. But now, everything Snoke had taken away from her, apparently in order to enact the spell, was starting to look overall far too convenient for the Sea Witch. She looked up at Kylo Ren, trying to make him understand at least  _ something _ , cursing herself for not even being able to communicate telepathically, since even her powers had been stripped away from her.

In the meantime, Ren was rather unsure if Rey--if it was indeed Rey-- was pleading somehow or was only showing defiance. Either way, since she seemed or decided to be mute, there would only be one way to get to the bottom of this.

“Well, if you’re so determined to stay silent, I guess I’ll have to use another way, then.”

As he spoke, he lifted a hand towards her head. For a moment, Rey panicked as she felt an unknown presence enter her mind. She attempted to push it away, struggling against it, until she heard a somehow reassuring purr, sounding strangely familiar even though she was certain she had never heard it before.

She recognized Ben.

Immediately, she let down any barrier that might have been holding him back before, throwing a thousand mental pictures towards his way.

Their wills clashed, so violently that they were thrown back.

Rey’s head hit the wood, and she hissed in pain as she watched Kylo Ren attempt to regain his balance.

_ What happened?  _ she asked herself.

_ No idea,  _ responded Ren’s voice in her mind. She immediately jumped in surprise, glaring at him.

_ Did… did you just read in my mind?  _ she asked, still unsure if Ren could hear her.

_ No. It’s telepathy,  _ he replied. _ I… I’m not sure what happened myself. _

_ Well… I’m… glad, I guess. I’ll get to speak to you. _

_ What happened? You sure lost your tongue. Oh, don’t look at me like that,  _ he sighed.  _ And… what’s with the legs? _

Rey crossed her arms.  _ I came to rescue you, you big idiot. _

_ I don’t exactly need rescuing, thank you very much,  _ he sneered.

_ Well… I wouldn’t stay here if I were you. The Resistance is coming. _

_ How do you know that?  _ He chuckled.  _ You sure didn’t lead them here. And the  _ Starkiller _ is invincible. _

Rey bit her lip. She wasn’t sure if Han Solo, Chewbacca and Finn were still on the  _ Starkiller _ , and if she revealed their plan too quickly… it would only mean no good for them. She looked around her, trying to find a way to get out of this dead end while still having the upper hand.

She saw the lightsaber Kylo Ren was still firmly clutching. She had to repress a smile.

_ I’ll tell you more… if you give me the lightsaber back,  _ said Rey.

_ What? No fair! It’s… _

_ Lightsaber, or I stay silent. Your choice. _

For a moment, Kylo Ren scowled at Rey, then at the lightsaber, than at Rey again. He finally grumbled something unintelligible before handing it grudgingly to Rey. She smiled in triumph, and he had to turn his head away. He had forgotten how bright her smile was.

_ Thank you. I have to say you were a bit stupid, though,  _ Rey added mockingly. _ You didn’t even try reading in my mind instead. _

_ Wait… what? WHAT? YOU… _

_ Thank you. Anyway, I’m holding my part of the deal, so you shouldn’t be complaining. _

He sighed angrily.  _ Fine. Shoot. _

_ Well… I made a bargain with a Sea Witch. It wasn’t a good idea, apparently. That’s how I got my legs. I can’t talk, I’m pretty much powerless, and it hurts every time I take a step. _

She saw Ren raise up a brow.  _ Do you know the Sea Witch’s name? _

_ Yes. Snoke. _

She saw Kylo Ren’s eyes widen in shock and fear, as he took a few steps back, trembling.

_ What? Is… is there something wrong?  _ Rey asked in concern.

He lifted up his eyes towards Rey. Despite his face’s monstrosity, she was still able to see a very childlike fear on his features. A lump formed in her throat.  

_ Yes. Everything’s wrong,  _ he finally replied.

But now wasn’t the time to sulk anyway.

_ We have to get out of here,  _ pressed Rey. _ It’s the only way. The Resistance is coming. I came here with your father and his crew. Their plan was to disable the cannons on the  _ Starkiller  _ to give the Resistance a chance to escape. It isn’t safe for either of us to stay. _

She was right. Well, it wasn’t safe for him. If she came across someone from the Resistance, it would be very easy to just assume she was a helpless prisoner. He’d probably manage to escape from any harm… but it would still be tricky. Especially when said escape plan absolutely had to involve no swimming.

But there was still one problem. And that problem could mess everything up, most especially for Rey.

_ You... remember that girl looking just like you I mentioned earlier? _

Rey frowned. That moment when she had come face to face with him was now so confusing in her mind she wasn’t able to recall his exact words.

_ What is it with her? You have a girlfriend? Well, not that I mind you having a girlfriend, I mean… Oh, stop looking at me like that! I said I didn’t mind! _

_ Of course you don’t,  _ he replied with a smirk.  _ Well, thing is, some girl looking exactly like you and claiming to be you came here a few days ago. I know you’re the real Rey. She doesn’t have the same aura at all. I thought since you had become human, you had lost it… but then I met the real you, and your aura is still there. _

_ What do you mean?  _ asked Rey.

_ It’s just… you carry some sort of aura with you,  _ answered Ren. _ I also feel that with my… other people who have Sea blood. _

_ But… still, you believed her?  _ Rey’s eyes widened in disbelief.

_ Why wouldn’t I have?  _ he replied. _ Anyway, why are we arguing about this? The point is that if the Resistance comes across your clone, and they probably will, since I doubt she’ll be part of the few people Hux will have escaping this ship, they’ll think you were a double agent all along and you’ll lose your friends in the blink of an eye. _

He couldn’t help but bite his lower lip in a short fit of embarrassment and regret as he saw Rey’s eyes watering. He knew that feeling only too well. Well, such behavior from them wasn’t that surprising.

_ Don’t worry about that. They’re not worth it anyway. _

Rey lifted her eyes towards him, disbelief and anger clashing all at the same time.  _ What happened to you? _

_ Does it really matter?  _ It was his only reply, and spat out so sardonically Rey didn’t press any further. But there was no way this conversation was going to stay this way.

_ We’ve already spent too much time here,  _ Kylo Ren finally said. _ We should leave. Now. _

 

* * *

Admiral Hux had always known Kylo Ren was not to be trusted.

He had become Admiral thanks to his family connections and his merit - yes, his merit - and yet, instead of the Supreme Leader trusting  _ him _ , he preferred doting on a band of sorcerers from another age.

Kylo Ren was the most insufferable of them all, and he was the one he was stuck with most of the time. It was well-known to him that he was the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, and to him, it mattered far more than him being Darth Vader’s grandson. His Rebel parents were closer to him from a generational point of view, and they were the ones who mattered.

There was a certain irony to him lifting his nose at the Knights of Ren. After all, not many knew that the true leader of the First Order was a Sea Witch who had been close to the Emperor.

The orders from the Supreme Leader were quite clear.   _ I suspect my apprentice is not as faithful to me as he should be. I know I can trust you with this, admiral. It’s a small task, really. And please, look for his companion to keep an eye on him. She’ll keep him from slipping away. _

At the last request, Hux had to do his best not to snort in disdain. That girl had arrived only a few days ago, and, on a whim, Ren had ordered for her to stay on the  _ Starkiller _ , as if she was some long lost Alderaanian princess. He didn’t know where she came from, and frankly, he didn’t care either. She could be a whore from Nar Shaddaa or the duchess of Chandrila, and it wouldn’t had made any difference.

He didn’t have to look for the girl for very long, as he came across her soon.

“Ah, so there you are. The Supreme Leader orders you to stay near Ren. We have reasons to suspect he might commit treason.”

The girl was insolent enough to glance at his disdainful stance, before smirking.

“Yes, honey,” was her only reply.

And, before Hux could reply, she was already running off.

He clenched his fists. If it wasn’t for Ren, he’d have that impertinent girl…

_ Wait. _

There was only one person who ever called him  _ honey _ on that tone. And that was only in private.

_ How… _

_ Phasma? _

Hux wanted to laugh out loud to have such a ridiculous idea. That girl wasn’t exactly tiny, but she was rather delicate of build. There was no way…

He needed a drink.

 

* * *

Hux’s face when she had called him by his pet name was quite priceless. It was worth taking a certain risk. It wasn’t that Phasma wasn’t able to defend herself, but it wasn’t at all the right time to face complications. She had a task ahead of her, and if she wanted to get her true form back, she would have to follow the Supreme Leader’s orders. 

Phasma had always been quite good at tracking down people, and Kylo Ren wasn’t going to be any exception. Perhaps she would have been better off as a bounty hunter, and she wouldn’t have been caught doing the Supreme Leader’s dirty work. She had sworn an oath as the Stormtroopers’ commander. She never expected however to have to take a frail girl’s form, and she didn’t enjoy it. At all. 

She headed towards the lifeboats, since it was certainly where Ren and the girl were heading. As her gaze wandered in the room, trying to find a good hiding place to wait for the two of them, it suddenly stopped on the ropes holding the boats from falling overboard. 

She couldn’t help but smirk, as she found out a way to forbid Ren and the girl from escaping, and it would require no physical effort from her. 

It wasn’t like it could possibly be risky in any way. After all, wasn’t the  _ Starkiller _ invincible?

 

* * *

There was no one in sight near the lifeboats.

The issue was that the lifeboats were sailing away from the  _ Starkiller _ , and they were empty.

Kylo Ren cursed under his breath. Snoke had outsmarted them on that part. 

In the meantime, Rey was looking over the edge, squinting her eyes as she tried evaluating the distance between the closest lifeboat and the ship.

_ We can’t just give up now. Can’t we swim to the closest lifeboat or something? It’s not that far, really. _

Ren had to hold himself from laughing out loud. Well, Rey was a mermaid, after all. And he was as terrified of the water as he was when he was still a boy.

But Rey didn’t need to know that. It would embarrass him to death. He felt his ears heating up already.

_ We can’t just go like that. It’s… dangerous. _

Rey lifted up her eyebrow quizzically.  _ You… you can’t swim? _

_ It’s not that, it’s… _

He was interrupted by the sound of people shouting. Both Rey and Kylo jumped in surprise and tried distinguishing a few words. They finally managed to catch a few: “Resistance ships straight ahead!”

_ They won’t be able to hold them back,  _ Ren quickly thought.  _ If the cannons are disabled, then they’ll run to the lifeboats, but they’ll be all gone… _

_ Well, there’s only one option left. We jump now, and we try reaching the closest one. _

_ I  _ can’t _. You don’t get it. _

Rey rolled her eyes.  _ Oh, whatever,  _ she hissed, climbing on the edge, ready to jump.  _ Are you coming, already? _

Like a sleepwalker, Kylo Ren slowly made his way towards Rey, getting on the deck’s edge just beside her. He was already feeling dizzy.

_ I… can’t. I’ve been scared of the water ever since that shipwreck. _

He glanced quickly at Rey, hoping to gain some sympathy from her. But no. She was looking positively furious, now.

_ Damn it. _

And, without further ceremony, she grabbed his hand and let herself fall into the ocean, dragging him with her.

Their bodies crashed into the waves. For the fraction of a second, Rey enjoyed the feeling of the water embracing her once again, realizing how much she had missed the sea during all that time.

But she quickly regained her senses as she remembered that Earthbound couldn’t breathe underwater. She immediately attempted to swim to the surface… but her tail had been traded for a pair of legs, and they functioned quite differently.

She attempted sticking them together and waving them around, in a way of somehow re-creating her tail, but she quickly realized it was a very bad idea. She was going to drown.

At that moment, she panicked. It was the most horrible feeling ever - she was going to die, because her home had in a way rejected her.

Two strong arms suddenly grabbed her waist and brought her to the surface. As she could finally breathe freely, she coughed violently, spitting out the salty water she had accidentally swallowed.

She attempted to turn around, trying to see who had saved her.

She met a familiar, albeit older face. Older, but there was still something boyish about it. Sure, said face looked positively sick, and was clinging to her just as much as she was clinging to him as if they were each other lifebuoy, but it was human.  _ Truly _ human.

It was Ben. And he was back.

She hoped so, at least.

_ What… what happened? You’re… _

But, before Rey could finish her sentence, a whirlpool formed itself near them, soon dragging them in its crazy spiral. Still holding Rey tightly, Ben desperately tried to swim away, towards the  _ Starkiller,  _ towards the lifeboat - anything but that thing coming straight from his nightmares. But it was no use.

Both of them, remaining in a tight embrace, found themselves in the middle of the whirlpool, leading them to the depths of the sea, and everything became suddenly dark.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update, but I want to wrap this story next Saturday, so here's a new chapter. Lots of drama going on, so hang on!
> 
> Also, for those of you who might not have read Bloodline, I'll quickly note that Greer Sonnel and Ransolm Casterfo are characters from that novel (which you should all read, btw).

_ “I’ve been waiting for you,” Maz said. “I just saw your little mermaid a few hours ago.” _

_ “What? Where did she go? We need to find her!” _

_ “Calm down, young man,” answered Maz. “Rey is where she needs to be. It looks like you need to get your priorities set straight too. You’ve got the last piece of the map to Skywalker. Your task is to go and find him. Rey can manage on her own. But when the time will comes, and Luke has joined his sister once again, you will see her again.” _

“I never realized how much I missed the sea.”

Finn quickly snapped out of his daydream to see Ransolm Casterfo was beside him.

“It’s funny considering the first time I went sailing, I was seasick the entire time,” Casterfo continued. “I didn’t have a choice but to get used to it.”

Finn chuckled. He remembered the first time he travelled and a storm had come. It wasn’t so much the ship creaking and the fear of it getting torn apart at any moment that had affected him, but rather how he thought at times he was going to throw up his innards. With him enrolled as a future Stormtrooper since a very young age, he didn’t have a choice but to deal with it. Everyone living near the Galactic Sea had to deal with the capricious weather, and --with some storms perhaps provoked by the Sea folk--, it made sailing dangerous. The mistrust between them and Earthbound persisted, and was still unable to fade away ever since the time of Revan and Malak.

“Island ahead!” shouted Poe. “Must be Skywalker’s. We’re very near the point indicated by the map anyway.”

It didn’t take very long before they dropped anchor, and the crew had barely set foot on the ground that a hooded figure approached them. It was Luke Skywalker.

Neither of them had ever met him face to face beforehand, even though they had seen his face in several illustrations. He looked older now, and there was a certain melancholy to his eyes, but the man did not look weary. The crew felt their optimism grow by a tenfold. Leia’s search for Luke wasn’t done in vain.

“You took your time,” Skywalker said dryly. The crew couldn’t help but chuckle, except for Captain Greer Sonnel, who had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

“Well,” teased Poe, “it must have been hard for you to have stayed here on your own and waited for so long.”

“I have to say I wasn’t alone,” said Luke, shrugging with a small smile. “I had company.”

With his chin, he pointed towards a rock near the shores, and at that moment, in front of the crew’s amazed eyes, a mermaid came out of the water. She appeared middle-aged with a few grey streaks in her otherwise brightly red hair. She was still youthful, with a fire in her eyes, looking every inch the kind of creature who would brew up a storm on a mere whim.

And yet…

Poe bit his lips in amusement, trying very hard not to laugh. While the other crew members were glancing at each other, hesitating between being shocked or worried, Greer just rolled her eyes and turned away, leaving the boys handle the rest of the situation.

All that time, Luke may have been hiding from the First Order on a desert island, but he was also spending his time with some girlfriend? Who was also a mermaid?  _ Wonderful _ , thought everyone in the crew.  _ Just… wonderful. _

“I know it may seem surprising, but…”

“Thank Calypso, I was around,” said the mermaid. “He would have turned into a crazy old hermit without my company. I’m Mara, by the way.”

“Mara’s coming with us,” answered Luke. “She used to be an acolyte for the Emperor, and for Supreme Leader Snoke. She’s been a spy of sorts for me.”

“And you trust her?” Finn asked skeptically.

Luke smiled and turned towards Mara: “I can trust her,” he assured them, and she smiled back at him. “I’m aware of what has happened in the last week,” Luke continued. “I know the  _ Starkiller  _ has been destroyed thanks to your efforts, and I also know that my nephew was onboard.” 

Casterfo swallowed and searched for something appropriate to say, considering the rather complicated relationship Luke Skywalker and his nephew (and former apprentice) had towards each other. “Well, Master Luke, allow me to present my--”

“No need,” Luke interrupted him. “He’s alive, and he’s not alone. Next thing we have to do is to rescue them both.”

 

* * *

When Rey woke up, she still felt Ben’s arms hugging her tightly. She wriggled out of his hold, looking around in worry at the cage they had been thrown into while they were unconscious.

Their prison’s bars glowed in the darkness, reminding Rey of a lightsaber, and providing them with a bit of light, permitting her to see that they seemed to be located in some cave. They weren’t underwater, but Rey could see water was surrounding their cage. She panicked for a moment as she realized the lightsaber Maz had given to her was gone. She took a few deep breaths. If she was a prisoner, it was expected that she would be unarmed at this point. She decided to keep on looking around, trying to get an idea of her surroundings. The place was quite unfamiliar to her, and the more she looked around, the more claustrophobic she felt.

It didn’t help that she quickly realized she didn’t have her legs anymore. Her tail was back, and she had no idea how.

Her twisting and turning had awoken Ben as well, and he was now looking around with just as much dismay as she felt. Rey had a sigh of relief as she saw that his face was still normal and familiar, and, as her gaze lowered, she found herself staring at his chest perhaps for a bit too long, and then noticed the tail.

It was quite beautiful. The scales appeared black at first, but thanks to the light provided by their cage, she realized they were actually a very dark shade of blue.

_ It’s a very nice tail. _

_ How? _

“Wait, you’re an Earthbound! Why do you have a tail?”

She smacked her hands on her mouth. Was… was everything back? Why would Snoke do that? Why were they imprisoned, now?

Ben was now eyeing her from head to toe, gaping at her like she was the Leviathan itself. Coming back from her initial shock, Rey frowned. “So, why do  _ you  _ have a tail?”

Ben shook his head, cleared his throat and shrugged. “It’s a family thing. Legend has it that there are Sea People in our ancestry. I don’t know who and how.”

Rey remained speechless for a few minutes. “You never told me,” she said softly.

He chuckled humorlessly. “I wanted to tell you that night you disappeared. I never had the chance. In my family, we all change shape when we go into the water. It starts when we’re around eleven or twelve. I haven’t been able to ever do it, though.”

“Why not?”

Ben bit his lip in embarrassment. “Well, I’ve been scared of swimming ever since that shipwreck,” he admitted.  He felt his ears heating up. It meant he was blushing. He hated that, and he hated even more that it happened in front of Rey, of all people.

Thankfully, she seemed too lost in her thoughts to tease him. That was a blessing.

“But, we’re not underwater. How…”

“Well, it might make things harder for us to escape. And I wouldn’t touch the bars if I were you. It really looks as if they’re made with the same crystal they use for lightsabers. You might get hurt. It’ll burn you.”

But Rey wasn’t paying attention anymore. She was actually still staring at Ben’s tail. When she finally noticed he was staring at her quizzically, Ben saw her lick her lips and turn away, blushing.

“Is there anything wrong?” he asked.

She jumped. “No! I mean, no, your-- your tail looks very nice.”

It  _ really _ was. Rey realized that since Ben had been an Earthbound for most of his life. He didn’t understand that mermen and mermaids always enjoyed a nicely shaped tail, but perhaps he wouldn’t be too annoyed that she was peeking perhaps a bit too much for decency.

Oh well. It was kind of worth it.

“Oh. Thank you, I guess,” Ben replied awkwardly.

Rey bit her lip, holding back a smile. It was only then that Ben understood. A twinkle of mischief was in his eyes for a second, but long enough for Rey to see it. She had to stop herself from letting out a nervous giggle, as he leaned over with a smirk.

“Well… your legs looked very nice too,” he whispered.

“How could you know that? They were covered in cloth.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I know how to guess how they look like.”

Rey wasn’t too sure how to respond, but she guessed he was being playful, and perhaps it wasn’t entirely appropriate. She slapped his arm softly with the back of her hand, and he drew back, looking falsely offended.

He regained seriousness, which gave Rey the opportunity to shoo away any amusement she felt rising.

“So, what happened to you?”

She lifted her head up very quickly. 

“At first, I didn’t know. I came to visit you like I did every evening, but you never came.  Did you forget about me that evening?”

“Me? Never! I just...” He hadn’t come that night because of his damned water fright. It was all his fault if Rey had disappeared. If he had come, he would have stopped anything from happening and…

Rey looked at him for a moment, her face undecipherable, before continuing. “I went back to my home. I remember I was angry at you, and then…” She paused. “There was a big shadow covering me, and next thing I know, I woke up in the Jakku Rim. I had to work as a scavenger for years in order to survive.”

Ben swallowed. Rey seemed so small and young at that moment. The mere thought that she had to fight for her survival… He knew she wasn’t weak. She was strong, far stronger than he would ever be-- but still.

“Did it always stay that way?” he finally asked.

Rey smiled and shook her head. “When I turned nineteen, I found my path as a Siren. That octopus I was working for--Unkar Plutt-- he got scared of me. I still had to work, but if I thought he didn’t give me enough portions and I told him, he’d oblige.”

“Really? ” chuckled Ben.

“Only at the beginning. He got used to it very quickly.” Though she didn’t say it out loud, Rey didn’t regret behaving that way at all.

“And do you know how you ended up there?” Ben asked. He rolled his fists in apprehension, like he always did whenever he was nervous. 

He almost wished it was Luke-- it had to be Luke, or otherwise…

He remembered the First Order’s attack on the  _ Obi-Wan  _ far too well.

“I didn’t know at first. I was told recently that Snoke had me taken away.”

_ Oh no. _

So it was all planned, all along, and he had been a fool.

“And who told you that?” Ben asked, grasping on the last straw given to him.

“It’s a mangrove guardian. Her name was Maz Kanata.”

Ben closed his eyes, as his eyes became dry. Of course. He couldn’t have tears anymore in his merman form. He wished he could, since his eyes were burning now. He knew Maz, of course. And he knew that when she discussed the past and the future, she was never wrong nor did she lie.

What made things even worse was that Rey was smiling at him.

“It’s fine, see? I’m still alive, and I found you. And we’ll find a way to get out of here, right? And if you don’t, I will.”

“No, you don’t understand. I thought you were  _ dead _ .”

“Does it matter now? You know I’m still alive.”

Rey tried meeting Ben’s gaze as her concern grew. He would constantly shy his eyes away from hers. He knew he wouldn’t be able to lie. He had always been a terrible liar. And it was impossible-- no, utterly despicable that he would lie to Rey, especially on such a matter.

“How did you end up in that mess in the first place?”

She was intelligent, of course. She was no fool. Ben had to admit connecting the dots was actually quite easy.

He gathered up the courage he had left.

Rey would probably hate him after all this. He deserved it.

But he had done it all for her.

Maybe?

“It’s Snoke. She was in my head for years. She lied to me. She made me believe all sorts of things about people close to me. I’m not even sure of what was true and what was false. She told me that you were killed by Luke Skywalker. I believed her.”

Rey had become very pale, and it was clear she was expecting the worst. She still hadn’t backed away. It gave Ben a sense of hope, for a moment, that she would understand.

He tried repeating it in his mind in order to keep going.

“I got so angry with Skywalker, I sent word to the First Order to give our location. At that moment, we were running away. Everyone had just discovered Luke Skywalker was Darth Vader’s son. They were furious. And so was I. So the First Order attacked, and everyone died except me and Skywalker, and I joined them.”

Rey recoiled in horror. Ben tried reaching out for her, but she only backed away even more.

“So you betrayed them all, and they died,  _ just because of me _ ?”

In a flash, all the anger, all the despair he had experienced in the last year came back to Ben. “I thought you were dead, and that it was all Skywalker’s fault,” he growled. “I thought he wasn’t who he was pretending to be. So I destroyed everything.”

“So? Was I worth  _ that _ ?”

Ben was almost going to answer “Yes, you were!”, but Rey had shouted, with a sob almost coming out. He swallowed, but he was still able to look at her in the eye.

“I don’t know what happened to you for you to end up all alone when you were a child, Rey, but believe me, if it wasn’t for Snoke, or anything else living near this damned sea, I would have come back for you. Always.”

She was visibly shaken, since he had obviously struck a chord. For a moment, he almost expected her to start crying, go back to him, and tell him that everything was going to be alright.

But she didn’t. As always, she didn’t falter and remained strong and tall.

He always knew she was stronger and braver than he was. But now, as she lifted her chin, he felt like some criminal standing at a trial in front of a queen.

She was a Siren, the most feared of all mermaids, and now, despite her youthful face, she certainly embodied the part.

She said nothing, and turned away, crawling towards a corner of the cage, while she rolled in a ball with her back facing him. Somehow, it stung more than any word that could have been uttered.

 

* * *

Rey guessed it was probably nighttime. The cave had become so cold all of a sudden. Nighttime could be an explanation for it. Anyway, it was the only way of estimating how much time had passed, since there was no other way.

It had been a few “nights”, but this one was the worst since she was thrown away there. Despite her best efforts (which consisted pretty much of her rolling in a ball and trying to get a bit warmer that way), Rey was shivering. Even the sea had never been so cold. It didn’t take long before her teeth chattered, and she was too preoccupied with staying warm to even notice it nor to realize it was noisy in the silence of the cave.

“Are you cold?”

She had forgotten Ben was there. Great.

“Well, by the sound you’re making, I’m going to take that as a yes,” he continued. “You know, if you want to keep warm, we could get close to each other. It always works.”

Oh, so he had the nerve of suggesting that now? Well, it wasn’t like she was going to accept. She glared at Ben, before turning back and curling in a ball once again.

The cold only became worse. Her whole body started shivering.

She didn’t hear Ben come up behind her. He was shivering too, though not as much as she was. He was used to the cold.

“You’ll freeze to death, you silly girl,” he grumbled. “You know, if you take care of yourself so poorly, maybe you do need rescuing from time to time.”

Rey scowled at him, but didn’t make any move away from him. Well, that was a progress.

She was cold. So cold. Her breathing slowed down, and she barely noticed two arms picking her up and holding her tightly.

“For all those times you said I was stupid, let me say that you’re not much better,” she heard Ben grumble. She was unable to hold back a small smile. His cranky tone hadn’t changed.

They stayed that way for a while. Their breathing became synced, as they felt each other’s chests move simultaneously. It was comforting, in a way. 

Eventually, they were both lying on the ground, asleep, still in each other’s arms.

Rey was the first to wake up. She didn’t move, as she watched Ben sleeping. He seemed almost peaceful. He was frowning, but there was something softer about his expression in sleep. She felt a sudden urge to poke his nose. She held herself from doing so. After all, she was still supposed to be angry at him.

When he finally woke up, they found themselves staring at each other, unable to break each other’s gaze.

“Will you forgive me?”

The question had come out by itself. He was amazed at his own audacity. Rey herself seemed rather shocked. She bit her lips.

“No.”

He lowered his head in resignation, and was just about to move away from Rey, before she held him, forbidding him from leaving.

She realized at that moment that while she was still disgusted because of what happened, she was unable to harbor any resentment towards him. She had never been able to hold a grudge against anyone, ever.

As a scavenger, she never had an easy life. She remembered that time she had managed to gather enough with two of her kind to pay for passage out of the Jakku Rim and towards somewhere more welcoming, only to have everything stolen by her former companions for a few hundred of Unkar Plutt’s portions.

Still, she hadn’t been able to stay mad at them, because somehow, she could see why they had done that to her.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t understand,” she added. “And it doesn’t mean you can’t put it behind you.”

Ben stared at Rey in confusion, his mouth half-open. 

“I shouldn’t be the one forgiving you, Ben.” He seemed shocked at the mention of his name. Rey realized that not so long ago, he was going by the name of Kylo Ren. It was the first time she was saying his name out loud in a long time, even though, ever since she had seen his true face again, she had always referred to him as Ben in her mind. She simply couldn’t call him anything else.

“You weren’t the one who wronged me. Snoke wronged me. She took me away from you, she tricked me and tried manipulating me by giving me legs, and-” Her throat tightened at this point. ”She killed my parents.”

She had to do her best not to start crying.

Then again, why was she holding back?

Before she knew it, Ben was hugging her tightly, and she noticed that his body was shaking with hiccups.

He was crying, and soon, so was she.

Their hands were running in each other’s hair, their fingers making small circles which brought them both a sense of relief.

She was calm, calmer than she had been since their imprisonment. She could hear the voices of her people singing. Maybe the sea wasn’t that far from where they were held, and it gave Rey hope.

In her mind, she started singing as well, her voice joining those of the other Sea folk.

She eventually heard Ben’s as well. It was soft and tentative at first, but her song quickly adjusted to his, as she tried encouraging him to continue. His voice was beautiful, deep, but with a light timbre. If he reached his full potential, it could be heavenly.

It took a while before Rey realized both their tails had entwined together.

Such a thing only happened between lovers, and they had done it without even noticing it.

Rey, however, didn’t move. She could use the fact that at this point, Ben was blissfully unaware of the implications.

Or maybe not. She felt his breath tickling her neck, as they both kept singing, and the song became more intricate and with lower notes, and she couldn’t help but breathe a bit faster in anticipation. His head leaned closer.

_ You’re grown quite fond of the little star, haven’t you?  _

Ben froze, as he heard Snoke in his mind once again. 

_ Go away,  _ he hissed. But of course, it was useless. 

_ What do you think will happen to you, you fool? You cannot protect her from me, no matter how hard you try.  _

Rey had remained blissfully unaware of the exchange. She felt Ben’s embrace becoming tighter. She turned her head towards him, her features questioning, but he had shut his eyes as if he was holding back tears, the rest of his face remaining resolutely buried on her shoulder. 

The bars of their cage suddenly disappeared. Ben heard the Voice calling him, as waters started rising towards them and they forced to follow the current. 

Snoke was summoning them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love me cliffies.


	9. Chapter 9

The current led them to another cave, where the ceiling was high above them. Torches hanging on the walls provided the only lighting. Snoke was sitting on a throne of sorts, and the gloomy light lent to her frightening appearance.

Ben took Rey’s hand. In another context, she would have snatched it out of his grasp, but this time, she let it be. 

They both noticed the chest the Sea Witch held. Rey noticed Kylo swallowing uncomfortably. She wanted to ask if he knew anything about it, but she feared Snoke would be able to read even her most intimate thoughts. And so she remained mute. She couldn’t, however, hide that she was frightened. She saw the Sea Witch smirk, and Rey had to look away. 

“It’s a pleasure to see you both,” Snoke finally said. “I’m glad you’re here, considering the… unfortunate events that have happened recently.”

Rey and Ben looked at each other quizzically, then back at Snoke again. They noticed how her hands would grip the chest tightly, as if the Sea Witch was trying very hard to stay calm. Rey felt Ben’s grip getting tighter as well. With her thumb, she caressed the side of his hand softly.

“You are both naughty,” Snoke continued. “Very naughty.” Rey could have sworn at that moment Ben had become slightly red and that his grip had loosened a bit. 

“We didn’t… I mean, Rey and me, we didn’t… I didn’t even--” 

Ben stopped his mumbling as he realized Rey was eyeing him curiously, while Snoke smirked, her fingers drumming on her throne. When Rey turned towards their tormentor and saw her expression, it was only then she finally understood Ben’s embarrassment. She lowered her eyes, while her ears burned. 

“You thought you could get away from me, and since Phasma is such a genius, she threw the lifeboats away to forbid you from escaping.” Snoke clicked her tongue. “And the Resistance choose to attack and kills most of the crew? Quite the exploit. You should be proud.”

For a moment, Rey wanted to speak up and tell the Sea Witch it was all her fault, but Ben, somehow guessing her intentions, whispered in her mind:  _ Please. Don’t. _

“It had to be expected, from such a plucky little thing like you,” Snoke told Rey. She opened the chest, removing something roundish with a red glow. Rey heard Ben gasp beside her. She turned to him in alarm, trying to make sense of what Snoke was holding. “But you, Lord Ren--” In front of Rey’s horrified eyes, the Sea Witch squeezed the red object in her hand, making Ben hiss and groan in pain, while he clutched his chest. “I am sad. So sad. I have done so much for you, and so much more than I have for all your companions who joined me long before you did. I thought you could be greater than your grandfather. I was wrong.”

“ _ No! _ ”

As he shouted, Ben yanked his hand away from Rey’s. She felt her throat tighten as she realized that perhaps she didn’t know everything about why Ben had become somehow Snoke’s slave in the first place.

The Sea Witch, at Ben’s interjection, simply smiled. She blew softly on the red object, and, in the blink of an eye, the skin like dead coral, the webbed hands with the claws – it all came back.

And this time, Rey saw Ben turn his head away from her, as if he was ashamed.

“I could have given you so much,” Snoke continued, her voice becoming more and more caressing. “Your family always tried to turn you away from who you truly are. You are much closer to the sea than to the earth, Kylo Ren. It calls you. It always has. I know the sea overwhelming you in its depths is your deepest fear. You will only find peace if you become the strongest of them all.”

With a smile, Snoke leaned her chin on one of her tentacles. “Remember how I promised you immortal life? That is something your grandfather almost achieved, had he not been so weak.”

Ben clenched his jaw, balling his fists as he saw Snoke glaring at Rey during her speech. This was starting to be far too much for him to swallow at once. Perhaps what bothered him the most was that Snoke thought  _ Rey _ , of all people, made him weak. Just the way the Sea Witch looked at Rey made his blood boil, and he could have ripped off that damned old crone’s tentacles. 

Snoke leaned back in her throne, that smug smile never leaving her face. “They say Padmé Amidala died while giving birth to Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, don’t they? Believe me, Lord Ren, the story is a lot more complicated than that. You know Queen Amidala had to go into hiding when Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, don’t you?”

Without waiting for a response, Snoke continued with her story.

“He hunted her down. He had become crazed enough by his hunger for power that he believed they could both overthrow the Emperor and rule over the Galactic Sea. But there’s always a Kenobi to meddle in greater plans, isn’t there? But even with a Kenobi around, Padmé Amidala died because the Emperor knew about a dark power capable of granting immortal life with the life of a perfectly healthy person, when the heart of someone the “patient”, if I can call them that, loves the most is ripped off of them and crushed into dust. It forbids them from feeling, apparently… immortality is much easier that way. And this person has to be the one the patient loves the most. And unknowingly, Darth Vader was immortal thanks to the life of his own wife, despite, all the… inconveniences brought to his physical form by Kenobi. ”

Snoke’s smile became definitely feral as she leaned towards Ben and Rey.

“The Emperor could grant his servant immortal life. And so can I.”

“But Darth Vader died…”

Snoke blinked in surprise at Rey’s objection. She knew the girl was bright and that she was going to put the puzzle pieces together quickly, but despite her obvious terror, she was still quite alert. It wasn’t the case with Kylo Ren. The boy’s entire body was shaking. Pathetic.

“Darth Vader died because the Emperor was foolish enough to let both his servant and Luke Skywalker live at the same time. I guess crushing his heart wasn’t quite enough. He killed his master, and he died with him. That’s the catch, you see,” added Snoke, her voice becoming menacingly soft. “If the master dies, the servants he made immortal dies with him.”

_ Rey… _

Despite Ben’s pleading tone, she didn’t even want to look at him.

Everything was quite clear to Rey now, even though there were some parts she still had trouble believing.

She was here with Ben for a reason.

She was the person he loved the most?

She didn’t know if she should be afraid, because of the whole mess they were caught in, or happy.

She grabbed his hand again. She felt him shifting in surprise, but he made no gesture to let go of her.

_ Ben,  _ she whispered in his mind.  _ I don’t want to die. Not like this. _

Mermaids, at the end of their lives, turned into mist. Rey always wanted to turn into mist during a sunset, perhaps near land, since she did like the green of the land.

Here, it was dark, and cold, and it was always nighttime.

And Ben…

What would become of Ben?

He would be forever chained to the Sea Witch, as he couldn’t kill her without ending his own life.

Would he miss her?

Maybe. Darth Vader had still been able to love his son, after all.

Rey saw Ben flinch in pain again. She turned quickly towards Snoke, who was rather mercilessly squeezing what was indeed his heart in her hands.

“I’m growing impatient,” she said. “You gave your heart willingly to me in the past, and you became the most feared of all Sea folk and Earthbound. Now do as I say. This is your last test. Prove you are strong, and give me the life of the person you love the most.”

Her voice was now thundering in the cave, and suddenly, a dagger appeared in Ben’s hand. Rey shifted away. She knew what was coming.

“Don’t you remember, Kylo Ren? Don’t you remember, how your mother just sent you away because you were between her and your father? How your father thought you were a monster just like your grandfather? How your uncle lied to you? How they tried to turn you into something you weren’t meant to be? Underestimated you?”

He was crying, now, and his clutch on the dagger was only getting tighter, his knuckles almost white.

It was too much for Rey to handle. 

She screamed, like only a Siren can scream.

It was effective. Well, Rey hoped it was. Ben was now covering his ears, his body hunched over. It probably wouldn’t have taken much more for him to beg for Rey to stop. She turned towards Snoke, who looked quite shaken as well. A wave of satisfaction and even pride overcame Rey. Her smile was obvious enough for Snoke to become utterly enraged.

“I knew you were a feisty little thing,” she snarled, “but I’m not going to let you mock me any further.” She waved her hand, and, before Rey could do anything, she found herself unable to move.

“Now, Kylo Ren,” Snoke added emphatically, “you know what you have to do.  _ Do it.  _ It’s your only hope. You know what’s awaiting you if you let yourself become weak.”

Rey watched as Ben (or Kylo Ren? She couldn’t even tell at this point) looked at the dagger, then at Rey, then at Snoke, then at the dagger again. She wished she could close her eyes, just so she couldn’t see Kylo Ren come towards her and plunge the dagger in her heart, but even her eyelids were frozen.

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?” Snoke answered icily.

“You’re lying to me right now. You always did. And I’m not your slave anymore.”

He was facing Snoke, now, his head high, and he almost smiled despite his trembling hands and his still red-rimmed eyes. But somehow, to Rey, despite his horrifying appearance, he still managed to look regal.

“You think so, Kylo Ren?” chuckled Snoke. “Oh, believe me, it’s going to be either you or her.”

“You will  _ not _ harm her. I won’t let anything happen to her as long as I’m alive.  _ Ever _ .” 

“Really? You don’t have a choice.” 

Rey saw the hand holding the dagger tremble again. But Ben’s face was incredibly calm. Almost bold, even. Or perhaps it was just an impression she had, since she thought that as much as Ben looked like his father, he looked quite a lot like his mother, at that moment.

“You’re so right,” he replied, with a tone that was all far too similar to Leia Organa’s.

He glanced at Rey once last time.

And without further ado, he plunged the dagger in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Tenth Doctor voice* I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The author wants to be forgiven for the Han/Leia feels, among other things.

Rey wanted to scream, but not a sound came out of her throat.

She rushed towards Ben, removing the knife from his chest and cradling his limp body against her chest. Her throat was tight, but she was still rendered mute. She caressed his cheek slowly, realizing that in his death, he looked human again.

She took his hand and planted a soft kiss on it. After all those years of wondering in her most desperate moments if anyone actually remembered her, despite her never-faltering hopes, she had found someone who had loved her enough to be willing to give away his life for her sake. She wanted to tell Ben so many things, not caring if Snoke could have heard her. But he wasn’t even there anymore to hear it.

She didn’t notice Ben’s heart in Snoke’s hand starting to glow, then transform in a strong light, scaring the Sea Witch and leading her to roil back in fear while the chest fell on the ground. Seven other hearts started lighting as well and disappeared, returning to their cursed owners who called themselves Knights of Ren.

As Ben’s heart had disappeared from Snoke’s hand, a ray of light came out of his chest. Rey froze, not understanding what was happening.

And the it all stopped as suddenly as it began.

Ben slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Rey’s face. 

He smiled softly and reached out to caress her cheek. Her sole response was to let out a squeal, and she quickly squeezed Ben in a tight hug, planting quick kisses on his cheek. He barely had time to react and felt his ears heating like they never had before.

A strong detonation suddenly interrupted them, and brought Snoke back to her senses.

The Sea Witch let out a howl, causing the ground and walls of the cave tremble while Rey and Ben looked at each other in alarm. Snoke got up, and, as she lifted her hand up and made an opening appear, her form became one of a giant octopus. Without further ceremony, she swam out, closing the entrance behind her and leaving Rey and Ben trapped.

The distant explosions continued, and both of them noticed the walls were trembling.

“There’s a battle going on outside,” said Ben. “I wonder who it could be… but that means we’re probably close to the surface.”

Rey nodded in agreement and scanned the surrounding area,  trying to see something that might help them get out of their prison. Snoke’s chest was still on the ground, and she finally noticed something silver lying beside it. She quickly swam towards it and saw it was Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber. She took it in her hands, remembering Maz’s words. 

She handed it to him with a smile. “I was told to give it to you when you’d be worthy of it. I think it’s time, now.”

He looked at her, his mouth half-opened, his eyes grateful and drying up. He advanced towards her, grinning, and Rey’s hand still holding the saber found itself locked in Ben’s huge ones. He bit his lip, and raised his head, suddenly looking very solemn.

“Rey, if we come out of this alive--” He swallowed. “Will you stay with me?”

She flushed and huffed loudly, while Ben grew worried.

“Ben Solo,” she replied, insisting on each syllable. “I swear to Calypso, you’re the biggest idiot I’ve ever met. We’ve been through so much and now you’re thinking I’m just going to answer, what, no?”

Before Ben could respond, she was pulling him against her, kissing him senseless.

Siren’s kiss indeed.

 

* * *

“There’s no entrance for any of our ships. How in the Underworld are we going to get in?”

“Forgive me, captain, there is an entrance,” said Poe. “It’s only big enough to let a person in, though.”

Leia shook her head. “I’m not sending anyone in there just armed with a sword or a gun. We’re dealing with a Sea Witch. I need each one of you, and I refuse to send anyone to a pointless death.

“The only option is to have Snoke come out,” said Mara. “Don’t ask me to do it, though. No offense, I may know where her hiding place is, but I have no idea how I’d be able to get her to come out.”

“You’ve helped us tremendously,” replied Leia. “You’ve done more than we could have ever asked you for. Luke was right to trust you.”

During that exchange, Han had remained silent. He was looking at the cavern, a faraway look on his eyes. Chewbacca was unsure if he should be apprehensive or simply comfort his long-time friend. After all, it was very possible his son could be held prisoner down there.

“I know a way,” Han suddenly declared. All heads turned towards him at this outburst.

“And that is?” Leia asked.

“If I tell you, you’re not going to like it.”

“Han,” started Leia, annoyed. “I’m the commander of this entire fleet. I have a right to know.”

He hesitated before continuing. “If I go close enough with the  _ Millennium Falcon  _ and start bombing it, it might cause Snoke to come out.”

“Are you  _ crazy _ ?” Leia shouted. “She’s going to attack the first thing that’s going to come in her sight, and that’s going to be you.”

Han signaled to Chewie to lower the plank, permitting him to cross from the  _ Falcon  _ towards Leia’s ship. He gestured for her to follow him, and both of them headed towards her quarters. Luke turned towards Mara with a mournful look on his face, while the rest of the crew shifted uncomfortably. Only Luke knew exactly what was coming.

Leia closed the door behind her and turned towards Han, crossing her arms.

“I’m not letting you do this,” she declared loud and clear.

“It’s our best chance, Leia,” Han replied. “This isn’t like you. You’re always the one to take the best chance, even if it’s risky.”

“This isn’t the same! It’s…” She suddenly stopped, gathering what coolness she had left. “I… I don’t want to lose you. Not after all this.”

Han couldn’t help but smile sadly. His wife had always been as tough as nails, never seeming to falter. In spite of that, he knew after all those years she kept her hurt deeply hidden, preferring to spend all her energy and even her anger in serving what she had always believed was the right cause.

He was her weakness, as was Ben.

They had both hurt her, in their own way, and yet, she still loved them both unconditionally.

“I know you want our son back,” said Han. “I failed him, Leia. I was scared of him and of his power. I just dismissed it as him being too much like his grandfather, instead of trying to understand him, I just let you and Luke take care of him instead. The kid loved me and I didn’t care enough. Let me do this. I need to make up for it.”

Leia’s face hardened, as it always did when she was about to break into tears. Han had seen her cry before, but he knew how much she hated when people saw her during those moments.

She wiped her eyes, and attempted to smile. Han grinned as well. “It’s not like it’s confirmed to be fatal,” he said. “Who knows? Maybe the gods will be merciful with me for once, or maybe your mother will intercede for me.”

Leia let out a small laugh. “You know what kept giving me hope all these years was that when Ben would tell me about his nightmares when he was little, they often ended with him seeing the night sky, and Amidala’s Star would come down and take a woman’s form and console him every time he saw her. I’m sure it was my mother. There’s no way it couldn’t be. So, you know, I think she’s always looked after our son, no matter what.” She sighed. “Anyway, no matter how much we fought, I always hated seeing you leave.”

Without further ado, she went towards him, and they both embraced tightly.

“That’s exactly why I left,” replied Han, smirking. “I left so you’d miss me.”

Leia let out a laugh, mixed with a sort of groan while she slapped Han’s arm. “How dare you,” she hissed.

He winked at her. “I know.”

As Han embarked the  _ Falcon,  _ nodding at Chewie one last time while six men were forced to restrain Chewie to keep him from following his long-time friend, he couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of fatality as he sailed away.

Leia was standing on her own ship, standing tall and resigned while the Resistance fleet floated in solemn silence.

Suddenly, they saw Leia’s serious expression turn into one of absolute despair and pain, and if it wasn’t for Luke catching her in time, she would have collapsed on the ground.

“Is everything alright, captain?”

She lifted up her eyes full of tears towards her crew, now surrounding her in concern.

“My son is dead. I… felt it.”

She wanted to yell to Han to come back, so he wouldn’t sacrifice himself in vain. But there was a darker part of her wanting him to avenge their son, tear that damned Sea Witch to pieces – yes, she’d much rather do it herself. She felt the wind get stronger. She almost wanted a storm to burst. She had never really developed her power, but now, she just  _ felt  _ she could become more powerful than anyone else in her family had ever been, if only she just gave in.

She felt Luke’s soft but firm hand on her shoulder, and she found some sort of center once again.

At the same time, the light she had felt extinguished when Ben had died ignited.

For the first time, she heard his voice sing. She had heard Luke’s, as well as Mara’s when she first met her, and she knew they could both hear hers as well.

She had never been able to hear her son’s. She couldn’t help but let a tear fall, as she listened to his deep and dark yet soft tone. Somehow, it fit him.

As Han arrived near the cave, he headed down towards the cannons, running around frantically since he was the only one there to fire. He almost wanted to close his eyes and just let destiny do the rest for him.

When the sea monster came out of the cave in all its monstrous glory, the Resistance fleet held its breath as the cannons suddenly stopped. Snoke remained silent and motionless in front of the  _ Falcon,  _ and finally, Han Solo came out, facing her. There wasn’t a single sign of fear. He looked at peace.

As he looked upon Snoke, he grinned.

The monster roared, forcing everyone near except Han to cover their ears and wince in pain. She jumped on the  _ Millennium Falcon _ , tearing it to pieces.

Han Solo and the  _ Millennium Falcon  _ were no more.

All eyes turned towards Leia Organa Solo. Her very pale face was devoid of all expression, and for a moment, some even thought she would go mad. She clenched her jaw.

“ _ ATTACK! _ ” she yelled.

And so, the fleet moved forward.

 

* * *

There was only one way of getting out, and it was a small entrance at the far end of the cave, leading into a tunnel.

“I can’t,” Ben insisted, stubbornly. “Go without me, and I’ll wait for you here.”

She wanted to yell and get angry at him for being still scared after everything they had been through. It was their only chance, and they couldn’t blow it away.

But before she could do anything, she saw Ben freeze. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

“What? What happened?” Rey asked in worry.

It took him a few seconds before being able to respond. “Han--” He took a deep breath. “My father… I, I felt him dying.”

Too many thoughts were rushing in his mind at once. The bombing had just stopped. Ben was starting to believe it wasn’t a coincidence.

What if it was his father who was causing the detonations?

_ Why did he do this? Did he know I was trapped inside with Snoke? He’s foolish to have gone against a Sea Witch, a mere human like him, and… _

_ No. _

_ He knew what he was doing. He knew the risks. He always did. He just always ignored them. He never wanted anyone to tell him the odds. _

_ He did it for me. To give me my best chance. _

Han Solo was no saint. He had been a pirate ready to kill for gain, and only cared about himself. When he had met Leia, he had started to change, not completely, but still changed. He had kept a bit of selfishness for years, even during his years of marriage. He had been weak and foolish at times. Yet, despite all his flaws, he had given his life away. And thanks to his past sins, it made his sacrifice all the more glorious.

They were the same. Ben had made mistakes, but in the end, they had been done more to satisfy himself rather than to get revenge for Rey’s supposed murder. He had always made it about him, no matter what, and it was his weakness that led to his deception by Snoke.

He had followed in the end the same path as his father, and despite his uncertainties, he had sacrificed himself for Rey.

But he was given a second chance. 

It wouldn’t be said that he’d let himself be dominated by fear.

His father wouldn’t die in vain.

Solemnly, he ignited the lightsaber that had belonged to his grandfather, then his uncle, and had now been given to him. He turned towards Rey. He tried not to think of everything she had done – it was painful, somehow. She had succeeded everywhere where he had failed, and she had undergone torture just to find him and save him. Rey never gave up and despaired. He knew he couldn’t do it alone.

She was crying now as well, for his father and for him.

“Lead the way,” he simply said. He lowered his head solemnly, conscious now that she was so high above him, and that no matter what he could do, he would be unworthy of her. He saw her eyes widen in surprise. He couldn’t help but smile shyly, and she smiled back, as she understood his gesture. She took his chin softly in her fingers.

“I want you to look at me in the eye, always. Understood? Now let’s go.”

She took his hand and headed towards the underwater tunnel, the lightsaber their only light in the darkness.

Despite the water surrounding them, Ben somehow managed to still be able to swallow back his fear and breathe.

 

* * *

When they arrived on the surface once again, the sunlight was so bright they were blinded for a moment. As they finally adjusted to the light, they saw nothing but wreckage around them.

Ben felt his throat tighten. He recognized here and there objects that were only too familiar. And, by some miracle, a scale model of a Rebellion ship he had played with when he was still a toddler floated towards him, still intact.

All around them was the remnants of the  _ Millennium Falcon _ .

In front of it all, Snoke faced the Resistance fleet, a trident in her left hand. She was bleeding, thanks to the canons firing non-stop at her, but she refused to fall, smashing ships with her tentacles.

“ _ HEY! _ ”

Ben had shouted, and it was even loud enough to eclipse the sound of battle.. Snoke turned towards them in surprise. Rey couldn’t help but smirk. Her heart beat slightly faster, especially as she saw the sea getting more tumultuous. She felt Ben panicking as it happened. She took his hand.

_ Don’t be afraid… just feel it. The waves are alive, and they’re alive with you. You’re the one who commands them. _

Ben had closed his eyes as she spoke in his mind. A loud explosion interrupted him.

A cannon had erupted and had wounded Snoke to a point that she screamed in pain and dropped her trident. She turned around in fury and saw it had come from no other than Leia Organa’s ship. She was standing on deck, straight and pale, her lips tight, staring the Sea Witch in the eye.

Rey took a deep breath. Without further hesitation, she swam towards Snoke.

“Wait… what do you think you’re doing? Come back!” Ben whispered in panic.

Holding his lightsaber more firmly than ever, he followed Rey closely. They both swam faster, as Snoke finally regained her senses and screamed, heading towards Leia’s ship.

But Rey had managed to grab the Sea Witch’s trident, which stopped Ben dead in his tracks, as he couldn’t help but look at Rey in awe. She looked so small, compared to Snoke, but somehow, she still managed to look fierce. He came closer to her, and as she turned her head towards him, he had to hold himself from lowering his head, a feeling of awe coming over him in Rey’s presence.

“STOP!”

Immediately, the Sea Witch forgot about the fleet, turning towards Rey and Ben. She gasped as she saw Rey wielding her trident. Ben couldn’t help but smirk a bit at that sight, raising his lightsaber in a defensive stance.

Snoke realized at that moment that her reign had come to an end.

In a desperate attempt to turn them into dust for good, she charged towards them. Rey and Ben did the same, brandishing their weapons forward and plunging them into the Sea Witch’s heart.

Snoke let out a blood-chilling howl, before her corpse sunk into the depths of the sea.

Rey took a deep breath, trying to stop herself from trembling, and turned towards Ben with a relieved smile.

He was still staring into the sea where Snoke had disappeared. He heard a sound, at first very faint, but gradually grew stronger and stronger. Rey started hearing it as well. 

The Sea folk had felt the end of another great evil, and they were singing for freedom.

The Resistance fleet, of course deaf to all of it, started cheering and clapping, with the exception of Leia, Luke and Mara, who, of course, could hear it. 

Rey couldn’t help but giggle, as, for the first time in years, she felt  _ free _ , and Ben was right there beside her. Not caring about all the eyes that could see her at that moment, she threw her arms around Ben’s neck, embracing him tightly, as if she was afraid that if she just let him go, just a little bit, he would vanish into thin air.

He hugged her back just as fiercely as she did.

 

* * *

They both were brought onto Leia’s ship. Rey saw Ben’s tail turn back into legs, and she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of regret.

His tail was  _ really _ nice, after all. And it intertwined with hers  _ so well _ …

That smug bastard noticed her disappointment, of course. And instead of being civilized and ignoring it, he chuckled and even winked at her. She blushed and turned away in annoyance.

_ You know,  just to help you learn how to appreciate nice legs, mine are a fine specimen. _

She huffed loudly.  _ Of course, I’m sure you’re saying that with absolutely no bias involved. _

_ Fine. You could always ask other people. _

_ No! Why must you always be so… _

_ Charming? _

_ Stupid. _

_ Here we go again… _

_ How dare you! You… _

They hadn’t realized that during their argument, the net they were in to get onto the ship had arrived at the deck’s level, and now Leia was observing them both with amusement, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes, which seemed to have an indefinite melancholy.

They looked quite flushed now, like two naughty children caught in the middle of a misdeed. Leia headed towards Rey, with a smile so kind and accepting her throat tightened.

“Keep in mind that no matter what he tells you, he’ll do as you say… most of the time,” she whispered, while Ben hid his face in his hands in embarrassment. Rey laughed wholeheartedly.

Leia, in the meantime, headed towards her son, and hugged him tightly.

She was tiny, compared to her son, but he somehow looked so young as he buried his head in her shoulder. Rey noticed his back was going up and down, in a way that looked like he was hiccuping.

No, he was rather crying.

 

* * *

“We can’t stay here.”

Rey’s eyes shot up in surprise. She was just about to finally drift to sleep, her tail wrapped around one of Ben’s legs and her head snuggled against his chest. 

“But, I thought-- I mean, aren’t you happy to see your mother again?”

He paused for what seemed far too long for Rey before continuing. “It’s not that. I won’t be able to do anything or to go anywhere without fearing for my life. I have many enemies. Even in the Resistance fleet. They stayed their hand out of respect my mother, but once she’s gone...”

And there was Rey. She was a mermaid, and a Siren. She had perhaps killed Snoke, but for many, it wouldn’t be enough to prove she was trustworthy. Especially not with her being so intimately connected with the man who was once Kylo Ren…

“So, what are you going to do?”

Rey didn’t want to ask the question that plagued your mind.  _ Are you going to leave me? _

He guessed her torment, since he immediately sat up and took her small hands in his huge ones.

“I’m not going anywhere without you,” he declared. “I don’t know where my mother is going to settle herself, but… I could ask her to go somewhere where we could easily reach her from the sea. Do you know somewhere where we could settle and have a nice little corner? I think I need peace and quiet for the next decade or so and…”

He was interrupted by Rey throwing herself at him, knocking him down.

“Well, that place where I lived when I was little would be perfect, if it didn’t change too much,” Rey finally managed to get out, once she calmed down. “Lothal isn’t the only place near that spot. And we’ll have to go back to Jakku. I need to fetch a friend of mine.”

“And that is?”

“A clown fish. His name is Beebee-Ate.”

“Oh, that pesky little fish? I remembered you mentioning him… are you sure he’ll be tolera-”

“Ben! I can’t leave him behind! And he’s got to be worried sick right now! Oh, I feel terrible just thinking about him!”

“Fine…”

 

* * *

As there were no more battles to be fought on the Earth’s surface, Leia Organa retired to Dantooine.

The New Pirate Republic was slowly reconstructing itself. It wouldn’t be perfect. Leia had come to accept it probably never would be. Former Resistance pirates had joined the Republic and were making their voices heard. It was the best she could hope for.

But since the last war was so closely linked to the Sea People, at least from the point of view of some members of the New Pirate Republic, the mistrust towards them was valid. Others would remind them that it was a mermaid and a Skywalker hybrid who had killed the Sea Witch. Some had even managed to get contact with some representatives from the Sea. The debates were sometimes stormy, and Leia wondered if it would lead to another war.

Luke had also taken a step back from the public eye. His lineage, which he shared with Leia, still hadn’t been forgiven by the public. He found a peaceful haven on Onderon with Mara Jade at his side, and found himself content. Some of their friends sometimes sent Luke a few young people who desired to learn some techniques of the Jedi of old, to which Luke would oblige. The Jedi Order would not rise, at least not yet, but they would not be forgotten.

Leia tried forgetting about all those troubles, for a while, and observed the waves crashing on the beach’s shores.

Today was a Thursday.

It didn’t take long before a small figure climbed up a rock near her, and started waving.

“Grandma!” the little mermaid shrieked. Leia slowly got up, and headed towards the rock where her granddaughter was sitting.

“Ugh, Daddy! I can get up there on my own!” another voice piped.

“Of course you can, sweetheart,” replied Ben, his voice sounding tired but to someone who knew him well, he was actually amused.

Leia picked up little Ami in her arms, not caring if she got wet. Her little green tail had turned into legs, which could kick and run quite well when she was on the ground.

Her son and his family were all up on the rock, and all of them except for Rey had their tail changed into legs. Hana was still glaring at her father, getting up and climbing off the rock to join her grandmother and sister, proving to him she could move around perfectly well on her own. Only Bran remained near his father, rolling his eyes while muttering, “ _ Girls. _ ” Rey and Leia both let out a laugh, while Bran exchanged a look with his father. The boys had to stand together in solidarity while facing all the strong-willed girls of their family, after all.

Bran quickly joined his sister, while Ben descended as well and picked up Rey in his arms. As usual, she let out a few protests, but she knew of course it would be of no use. He used the moment where the children weren’t looking to kiss her forehead in order to silence her.

Leia hadn’t lost anything of their playful exchange.

The world wasn’t perfect, even after all their sacrifices. She knew the challenges Ben and Rey both faced. They were relatively isolated, but there were still Sea People here and there that openly showed hostility towards them. Their reputation as slayers of a Sea Witch and Rey’s status as a Siren protected them from harm, and they did their best to shield their children from any kind of animosity. Of course, they knew it wouldn’t last forever.

And perhaps one day, Hana, Bran, and Ami would hear the call for a quest of their own, perhaps to finally unite the Earthbound and the Sea People once and for all.

And, for the first time in forty years, Leia realized that the pain she had felt ever since Alderaan had been ravaged by the Empire was gone. Or perhaps, she had decided to finally let go.

Her son and daughter-in-law had almost lost everything because of a certain Sea Witch, and yet, they had won. She had had many great losses as well, and yet--

Yet, after a lifetime of never feeling satisfied, despite the history of their world still not resolved, she felt her life was now fulfilled.  

There was hope as long as the stars -- shining with the souls of the heroes the gods had decided to honor -- remained in the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. 
> 
> I can't believe it's done. 
> 
> So of course, I have to get all sappy and say, wow. Thank you so much for every kudo, every comment, every bookmark. I'm amazed my silly little fic actually got such a good response. It's amazing for a non-native English speaker like me! And I appreciate it so much especially that I've been going through difficult times recently. So thank you so, so much. 
> 
> You'll see other fics from me, of course: I'll be writing more with the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology, of course, and I'm working on two Reylo projects at the moment: one is Snow White meets vampire hunter AU (I KNOW IT'S WEIRD BUT IT'S GONNA BE GOOD I PROMISE), and the other is basically an Empire!AU where Rey is the imperial princess, of course, and Versailles meets space: lots of court intrigue, and everyone is destroying each other while our favorite babies just look at the mess while drinking champagne and snarking. I don't know which project is going to come out first, but if there's one you prefer, please tell me in the comments ;) 
> 
> Small bonus too: I got nerdy and did a meta on my fic, talking about the influence Hans Christian Andersen's original tale had on my story, so if you want to check it out, here it is: http://cosette-giry.tumblr.com/post/151538724262/amidalas-star-a-meta-since-im-a-nerd
> 
> (I will learn to do HTML one day, I promise) 
> 
> And if you have any questions or small things to say about my fic, please do so in the comments or on my Tumblr! You can find me at cosette-giry.tumblr.com. 
> 
> I also want to thank the mods from the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology for doing such a wonderful job putting that project together, and of course, I'm very eager to do other upcoming projects. I'm so excited to see what's in store! 
> 
> Special thanks to mods bittersnake (I'LL GET BETTER WITH THE ADVERBS I SWEAR), thewayofthetrashcompactor and LarirenShadow since they were the ones to edit my piece. Also shout-out to BeMyDarkling who beta'd me before submitting my final draft and was VERY helpful! And of course, I want to thank the two very talented ladies who did art for my fic - goddamnrey and DarthShizuka! You are both amazing, and as soon as your art is out, I'll be sure to post links so you can all see ;) 
> 
> I also want to thank all my fellow writers from the anthology - you guys have been amazingly supportive and I've also made great friends through this project. I love yall. :D


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